Ten reasons
by Talespinner69
Summary: There are ten reasons why doing any sort of harm to Lincoln Loud is a very poor idea. (Rated M to be safe/rating subject to change)
1. Chapter 1

Pre-chapter author's notes: Earlier today (3-16-18), one of my other stories, 'Restored Image', came to an end. However, I saw from come of the comments that the ending not only shocked and confused a fair number of people, but I could tell that a fair few were somewhat disappointed. I forgot to put things in context, and this is my fault. I'm very sorry about that. To clear things up, the ending of the last chapter of 'Restored Image' actually hinted at the start of _this_ story; this story, along with 'A collection of Loud House one shots' (another one of my Loud House stories up on this site), are set in a different universe than where the 'Broken Mirror' stories and 'Restored Image' are set. Long story short, in the universe where this story and the one-shot collection are set, Lincoln never ran away from home. Also, the VYG is/was nowhere _near_ as much of a threat (they weren't even a VYG, just a YG), but that will be covered in further detail at some point later. Anywho, without further ado, here's the first chapter of 'Ten reasons'.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter one: Big sister bully part one- I am _not_ a bully

Lynn Loud Jr. was known as a number of things. She was the youngest of the five oldest Loud sisters, a 'meatball grinder vacuum' as some of her sisters said, and an athlete. Oh yeah, Lynn was very clearly the athlete of the family; always active, always turning everything into a sport, and always earning accolades and awards for her performances in sports.

There was something _else_ , however, that Lynn was also known as, at least among most of her siblings. It wasn't something that Lynn was aware of herself, and if any of her siblings who were in the know tried to confront her with it, the sporty Loud sibling would flat out deny such an accusation. …Regardless of how much truth such an accusation would carry.

But enough of that messy business. Lynn woke up one Saturday morning in her and her sister Lucy's bedroom at the Loud residence. When she awoke, Lynn instantly had one thing on her mind; the big football game that her team was going to be playing against a rival team on Monday. The sporty Loud sibling knew that she would have to train and exercise as much as she can before that big game.

After processing the fact about her big upcoming football game, Lynn instantly had another thought pop into her head; any training she did, as much as it would help, wouldn't be as effective if she trained on her own. Lynn thought that in order to get the most out of her training, she would have to get at least one of her siblings to join her. The sporty Loud sibling then began to go over a mental list of her siblings to see who would be the best training partner for her.

Lynn first thought of her older sister Luna, who Lynn thought was arguably the second-strongest of the Loud sisters in terms of pure physical strength (Lynn, of course, considered herself as number one in that department). However, the sporty Loud sister remembered that Luna and her band had a few gigs to take care of during the weekend. There was also the fact that Luna had a date with her crush Sam tonight (yay for Luna!), so the musical Loud sibling was out.

Lynn then considered Luan, another of her older sisters. Lynn figured that the comedic Loud sibling should have some strength; some of those pranks that Luan had pulled off in the past required some degree of strength in order to set up. But almost as soon as she considered Luan, Lynn had to think otherwise. Like Luna, Luan also had a full schedule for the weekend; the comedic Loud sibling had a birthday party to perform at today, another one tomorrow, and one on Monday as well.

That Monday party also meant that Luan would have to miss going to Lynn's big football game, something that troubled Lynn more than a little, as she wanted all of her siblings, both the older ones and the younger ones, to be there for her.

…Wait a minute, that's right. Lynn was only considering her _older_ siblings as potential training partners. Lynn's older siblings usually have other obligations to handle on weekends. A _younger_ sibling would not only have a far lesser chance of having some sort of weekend obligation that would otherwise make helping Lynn impossible, but a younger sibling would also be more likely to agree to help Lynn train.

Turning her head, Lynn faced the other side of the bedroom she shared with her younger sister Lucy. The gothic Loud sibling was already awake, and was writing something in her book; as far as Lynn knew or cared, it was yet another gothic poem of some sort, or some depressing, poetic interpretation of a dream that Lucy had the previous night. "Hey Lucy," Lynn began, getting the eight-year-old's attention. Closing her book, Lucy sat up on her bed and turned to face her older sister.

"What is it, Lynn?" Lucy asked in her usual monotone.

"You know that big game that my football team has on Monday?" Lynn began, "Well, I need as much training and practice before then in order to be ready, and it's be best if I can get a partner to work out and train alongside me." With as much of a hopeful-looking expression as she could manage, Lynn asked, "You in?"

The gothic Loud sibling reached behind herself to grab something. Pulling up what she had grabbed, Lucy revealed it to be a small…smoke bomb? The heck is Lucy doing with a smoke bomb? Either way, Lucy tossed the smoke bomb at the floor of her and Lucy's bedroom with all of her might while shouting, "SHIIINRAAA!"

The smoke filled the room quickly enough, and Lynn coughed as she waved the smoke away from her face. When enough of the smoke cleared, the sporty Loud sibling noticed that Lucy had run away under the cover of the smoke. Walking out of her and Lucy's bedroom, Lynn remarked aloud to herself, "Geez. All she had to do was politely decline."

It wouldn't be until sometime on Monday that Lynn would realize she wouldn't have taken 'no' as an answer.

Walking down the stairs, Lynn made a quick turn for the kitchen to grab something to eat. Upon turning into the kitchen, Lynn saw three of her younger siblings; the twins Lola and Lana, and Lincoln, the sole Loud boy. The twins were, one again, arguing about something, which Lynn deduced was the wrapped brownie snack cake sitting on the table. Lincoln, as per usual, was acting as a mediator between the two twins.

"It isn't for either of you girls," Lincoln said as he tried to get the twins to stop arguing, "The last brownie is Leni's, remember?"

"How come?" Lola complained.

"She's the only one who hasn't had one yet," Lincoln pointed out to the pageant princess Loud sibling, "It wouldn't be fair if Leni didn't get one while everyone else did."

"…Oh yeah, Lincoln's right," Lana remarked as she nodded her head a few times, "Think we should put a sticky note with Leni's name on it on the last brownie?"

"Last what now?" Lynn interrupted, getting the attention of Lincoln and the twins. When they turned to face her, Lincoln and the twins saw that Lynn had taken the last brownie snack cake and had eaten it; she was already walking over to the trash can to toss out the now empty wrapper from the brownie.

"Lynn, you already had your brownie!" Lola said as she pointed at Lynn in an accusing manner, "That last one was mine!"

"Leni's," Lincoln quickly corrected in a deadpan tone.

"What he said," Lola remarked while facing Lynn as she pointed to Lincoln.

"Well I needed the extra fuel," Lynn defended in a casual tone, "You see, I have that big football game on Monday."

"Yeah, so?" Lana replied.

"I need to train and exercise as much as I can until then," Lynn continued.

"Uhh-huh," Lola remarked.

"However," Lynn went on, "I realized when I woke up a short while ago that I can only do so much with my training and exercise if I do it alone." Pointing to her younger siblings, Lynn said, "Which is why I was wondering if any of you would be interested in joining me."

"SHIIINRAAA!" Lana exclaimed as she reached behind herself for something, pulled out a smoke bomb, and threw it at the floor as hard as she could. When the smoke filled the room, the sporty Loud sibling could hear Lana exclaim, "Come on, Lola! Let's scram while the smoke keeps us covered!" Lynn could then hear the sound of two sets of little feet scamper out of the kitchen as quickly as possible.

After most of the smoke cleared, Lynn saw that only Lincoln was still in the kitchen, waving what smoke remained away from his face. Coughing, Lincoln remarked aloud, "What was Lisa thinking, making those smoke bombs for everyone?"

"Hey Lincoln!" Lynn said in a cheerful tone, getting her younger brother's attention.

Realizing that he was stuck, Lincoln said somewhat nervously, "Oh, umm, hey Lynn. What's up?"

Walking over to her little brother, Lynn threw her arm around his shoulders and said while pointing to him, "It's you and me this whole weekend, Lincoln! Nothing but training exercises, strength building and tossing around the pigskin from dawn to dusk! Sounds pretty good, don't you think, little bro?"

" _I wish I had asked Lisa for some of those smoke bombs_ ," Lincoln thought. Realizing that nothing short of a miracle would get him out of this, Lincoln said, "Alright, Lynn. Just let me grab breakfast first."

"Awesome!" Lynn said happily, "I'll be waiting for you in the backyard! Don't keep me waiting too long, alright Lincoln? I'll come back in here to find you if you do."

The sole Loud boy gulped as Lynn went off to gather some supplies and to set up some exercise courses in the backyard. Lincoln silently prayed that Lori needed a golf caddy for when she went to practice at the golf course, or that Leni needed a buddy to go shopping with her at the mall.

* * *

Lynn had one of the best weekends she could recall over that weekend. Not only was she doing what she loved, but she was also doing it with a sibling. And it wasn't just practice and training for football that she did either; Lynn did all sort of sports stuff with Lincoln, including lucha libre and a little bit of karate. When she woke up on Monday, Lynn was pumped for her team's big football game.

Lincoln had one of the worst weekends he could recall over that weekend. Not only did a surprise request from Lynn crash any plans that he had, but by the time he woke up on Monday, Lincoln felt aches all over, not to mention the fact that he sported more than one bruise. What in the heck made Lynn think that lucha libre would help with getting her ready for her big football game today? Further remembering that he and his siblings had to go to Lynn's game to cheer her on (sans Luan, who had scheduled a party she had to perform at today), Lincoln realized that, as he felt more aches as he got out of bed, that he was not going to have a good day.

He had no idea how not good his day was going to be.

* * *

When most of the kids were up, Lynn Loud Sr., the patriarch of the Loud family, went upstairs to check on Lucy, Lola and Lana, the only ones to not be awake yet. To his worry, Lynn Sr. saw that the girls had all come down with some sort of sickness, which the Loud family's resident genius Lisa quickly identified as a stomach flu. With his wife Rita, the mother of the Loud kids, away in California (Rita had brought Lily, the baby, with her) to help a close friend of hers manage the final affairs of a relative who had just recently passed away, Lynn Sr.'s options were limited.

"So, here's the thing," Lynn Sr. told his kids who weren't sick, "With Lucy and the twins being sick, one of the older kids among you will have to stay here to look after them." To Lori, Leni and Luna, Lynn Sr. said, "I'd prefer it if one of you took the job."

"We actually have the day off of school due to some sort of teacher holiday," Lori replied, "So the three of us literally have all day."

"But what about my football game later today?" Lynn asked, "Everyone will be able to come, right?"

Regarding his athletic daughter with a sympathetic expression, Lynn Sr. turned to face Lynn Jr. "Oh junior," Lynn Sr. said as he bent down on one knee and put a hand on his sporty daughter's right shoulder, "I know how much it would mean to you if all of your siblings were at your big game to cheer you on. But I'd rather that Lucy and the twins stayed here so they could recover. Also, at least one of your three oldest sisters will have to stay here to keep an eye on them."

"You can leave that to me, dad," Lori volunteered as she raised a hand, "I mean, I am literally the oldest, so I have something of a responsibility to look after my younger siblings."

"Thanks, Lori," the Loud patriarch remarked, giving his oldest child a nod of acknowledgment. Looking to his wristwatch, Lynn Sr. said, "Oh, I got to head off to work now! Have a great day, kids! And good luck with your game, Junior!" Without another word, the Loud patriarch was out the door, leaving his children to get themselves ready for school.

When the Loud sisters were all alone, Lori said, "Alright, Lynn. You, Luan and Lincoln still need to get ready for school. Gonna be a pain in the rear to drop you and Luan off at the middle school, Lincoln off at the elementary school, and Lisa off at the college."

"Yeah, I gotta get ready," Lynn admitted, "There's that big game after school. I've been training for it all weekend."

"Yeah, about that, little dude," Luna began with a look of mild disappointment on her face. The look did not go by unrecognized by the sporty Loud sibling.

"What are you on about, Luna?" Lynn asked, a suspicious look in her eyes.

"I saw that you managed to snag our bro as a work out buddy," Luna remarked as her gaze became similar to that of Lynn's, "And to be honest, from what I saw over the weekend, you looked like you were kind of having trouble telling the difference between Lincoln and a punching bag."

"What?!" Lynn nearly exclaimed out of offended shock, "I was _not_ treating Lincoln like he was a punching bag!"

"You were, like, totes mean to Linky over the weekend, Lynn," Leni said as her and Lori's respective gazes started to become like the one Luna was aiming at Lynn. And like the musical Loud, Lori and Leni were drilling holes into Lynn with their eyes. The sporty Loud started to feel a little unnerved, what with the three oldest of the Loud kids staring her down. Leni made it especially unnerving, as she very seldom ever has such an expression.

"I was not being mean to Lincoln," Lynn retorted as she found some resolve, "In fact, he joined me because I asked him and he said yes."

"Because he totally knew you wouldn't have given him a choice in the matter, brah," Luna remarked as she arched an eyebrow.

Scoffing in an offended tone, Lynn shot back, "I so would have given him a choice!"

"No, you wouldn't have," Lori said, "Face it, Lynn. You have trouble taking no for an answer." Lori then held a hand to her chin as she shot her gaze upwards, a sign that she was considering something. "Hmm," Lori remarked aloud, "I wonder if there's enough gas in Vanzilla for me to swing in a trip to the arcade, and maybe the comic book store."

"Wait a minute," Lynn said, both her tone and expression showcasing confusion, "Why would you want to go to the arcade and comic book store? Those are places Lincoln likes going to."

"Because I was planning on taking Lincoln to those places when he gets out of school," Lori explained as she shot Lynn an accusing glare, "I figure that he deserves to have a nice day to compensate for all of the bullying that he received from you during the weekend."

"Wait, what?!" Lynn nearly exclaimed, her expression a healthy mix of shock and being offended, "I was _not_ bullying Lincoln."

"You totally were, dude," Luna said, her casual tone carrying a somewhat stronger hint of disappointment.

"They're totes right, Lynn," Leni said to the sporty Loud sibling in the sternest tone that the fashionable Loud has ever been known to use, "You're, like, a bully."

Lynn gasped in shock, but just as quickly, she regained her nerve. "You take that back," Lynn said, her gaze narrowing somewhat.

"Leni, don't," Lori ordered near instantly when she turned her head in Leni's direction. Turning to face Lynn, Lori said, "Leni's right, Lynn."

"I am not a bully," Lynn growled, her temper just starting to spark.

"Yes, you are," Lori replied.

"No, I'm not," Lynn shot back instantly.

"You totally are, brah," Luna said.

"No, I am not," Lynn reiterated, her temper flaring a bit more as it was not only clear that the sporty Loud was trying not to blow, but was doing an atrocious job of it at best.

"You, like, totes are a bully," Leni said firmly, "The worst I've ever seen, in fact."

"I'M NOT A BULLY!" Lynn yelled.

"YES, YOU ARE A BULLY!" another voice shouted, getting the attention of Lynn and the three oldest Loud sisters. They all turned to see Lincoln, the owner of the voice who has just shouted, standing at the base of the staircase. The look on the sole Loud boy's face was not a happy one, that's for sure.

Luan was descending the stairs at the time everyone turned to face them. "Did…did I miss anything?" Luan asked nervously, a mildly lost look on her face.

"It's nothing, Luan," Lincoln said in a neutral tone. Shooting a quick look at Lynn, Lincoln turned to face Lori and said in the same tone, "I'm ready to go to school now."

…

The drive to Royal Woods Elementary School, which was closer than Royal Woods Middle School, was eerily silent as far as Lynn was concerned. The sporty Loud felt, for lack of a less vulgar metaphor that carries just as much impact, like shit. There are very few things in the world that Lynn Loud Jr. truly, without reservation, abhors. Meatball grinders that skimp on the meatballs. Cheating in sports.

Bullies.

Lynn absolutely hated jerks who would use their size and strength to put down others who were both smaller and physically weaker than themselves. Lynn would always, upon hearing that anyone was partaking in bullying others at RWMS, track down the offending person, pick them up, and shove them head first into a trash can, just to drive home the point that, so long as Lynn Loud Jr. was around, bullying just _did not happen_.

In fact, back when Lincoln was being picked on a while ago, Lynn was more than ready to go to war until Lincoln confessed that his bully was a girl. Lynn, despite being ecstatic because this obviously meant that her little brother had gotten himself a female admirer, was still more than willing to go out, find the little bitch who would dare to bully Lincoln, and rearrange said bitch's face until it was unrecognizable.

A good thing _that_ didn't occur. Lori would have literally torn Lynn a new one.

But this is getting off the subject. Lynn did not consider herself to be a bully. If anything, the sporty Loud hunted them. Not in a literal sense, but the point remains. And yet her three oldest siblings were accusing her of bullying Lincoln, their little brother.

Their _only_ brother.

Starring out the window, Lynn's mind wandered as she went over bits and snippets of her weekend-long training session with Lincoln. All Lynn did were exercises and practice plays with Lincoln. There was even this one strength training the two siblings did that involved throwing around tires. Nah, there was no way that Lynn had bullied Lincoln.

…Right?

"Okay, here we are," Lori said as Vanzilla pulled into the parking lot of a school, "Royal Woods Elementary School. This is your stop, Lincoln."

"Thanks for the ride," Lincoln said in the neutral tone he had been using since right before they all left for school. The tone, though not sounding malicious, still made Lynn feel upset. Hoping to at least make an effort, Lynn got her little brother's attention.

"Umm, Lincoln," Lynn began, but was cut off when the sole Loud boy held up a hand.

"I'll see you after school," Lincoln said before he closed the van door, turned around and proceeded to walk to the school building. Right when Lincoln reached the front doors of the school, Vanzilla took off for Royal Woods Middle School.

"Wow, who put a bee in Lincoln's undies?" Luan asked, a confused look on her face and her tone three parts confused, seven parts concerned.

Gently shaking her head, Lori said, "It's nothing you should concern yourself with, Luan. Just some messy business between Lincoln and Lynn."

"What happened?" Luan asked.

"Please just drop it," Lori replied, "Anywho, don't you have a gig to do afterschool?"

"Oh yeah!" Luan nearly exclaimed in an excited tone, "I've been hired to perform at the birthday party of a child whose family recently moved to Michigan from Arizona."

"Wow, talk about new frontier," Leni remarked in a casual tone (Luna was left at home to look after Lucy and the twins).

Within a few minutes, Vanzilla reached Royal Woods Middle School. "Okay, Luan and Lynn, here we are," Lori said as she pulled into the parking lot, "Lynn, your game later today after school will be a home game, right?" Seeing the sporty Loud nod in the affirmative, Lori said, "Alright, then. I'll leave Luna at home again to look after Lucy and the twins, then I'll head to the elementary school first to pick up Lincoln. We'll make a quick trip over to the college first to see if Lisa's available to come watch the game, then we'll head over to where the game's going to be at."

"Sounds like a plan," Lynn replied, her tone somewhat subdued.

Catching the bare hint of subdue in her little sister's tone but deciding not to act on it, Lori said, "Alright, we'll see you at your game."

"Come on, Lynn," Luan said as she hopped out of Vanzilla, "We don't wanna be late!"

"Yeah, alright," Lynn said as she got out of the van and followed her older sister into the middle school. It was going to be a long day for the sporty Loud, and not just because she couldn't wait for the football game.

" _Yes_ , _you are a bully_."

* * *

During lunch later that day, Lynn was sitting in her school's cafeteria, dejectedly poking at her food with a plastic fork. This got the attention of the three kids sitting with Lynn, one of which being Luan. The other two were friends of Lynn's, Mitzie and Ulfric.

Mitzie, her full name Mitzie Cornwell, had moved with her family to Michigan from their home country of England. The British girl was roughly the same height as Lynn and had fair skin, blue eyes, and hair as blonde as Lynn's sister Lola's hair. Mitzie's hair was in two curly side-pigtails that almost reached halfway down her torso. Mitzie wore a white long-sleeved shirt under a light-gray sweater-vest, a plaid skirt that reached close to halfway down her legs, socks that came up to about an inch under her knees, and brown shoes. Like Lynn, Mitzie was also on the football team and would be playing.

Ulfric, his full name Ulfric Aesir, had moved with his parents to Michigan from their home in Sweden. Despite being close to Luan in terms of height, Ulfric was actually still thirteen, same as Lynn and Mitzie. He wore a light-gray long-sleeved shirt (the ends of the sleeves hung loosely around the wrists, not clinging tightly) under a somewhat baggy t-shirt that resembled the Swedish flag, loose-fitting cargo pants held up with a belt, and brown boots. Ulfric had black hair, long and somewhat wild, and he wore a necklace that had three bear claws as charms. Ulfric was also noticeably, but not excessively, strong of body (i.e. muscular). Lynn also had a crush on Ulfric; the sporty Loud sibling does not like to talk about Francisco, her ex-crush. Do not even try to bring that subject up around Lynn.

"You seem down, gov," Mitzie remarked to Lynn in a British accent that was real and not practiced like Luna's, "What's troubling you?"

Sighing in a resigned tone Lynn decided that she might as well talk to her friends. "I want to ask you guys something," Lynn began, "And I want you to be completely honest with me." Sighing once again in a resigned tone before she continued, Lynn asked, "Do you think I'm a bully?"

The confused look of Ulfric's face conveyed a mild amount of shock mixed with a generous amount of confusion, and more than a dash of worry. "That is a rather troubling thing to accuse yourself of, Lynn," Ulfric remarked, his accent bringing to mind proud and mighty warriors from a northern land of snow and cold, "What makes you see yourself in so dishonorable a light?"

"…Before I left for school this morning, my three oldest sisters accused me of bullying my little brother Lincoln over the entirety of last weekend," Lynn explained in a mildly somber tone, "I needed a work-out buddy to help me get ready for the big game later today, so I asked some of my siblings if they wanted to join me until one of them agreed. I ended up getting Lincoln."

"Yeah, sorry, sis," Luan said in a mildly apologetic tone, "I'm going to have to side with Lori, Leni and Luna on this one."

"Wot are you on about, mate?" Mitzie asked (at a near exclamation level) in an offended tone as she eyed Luan suspiciously, "Ya got the gull to accuse the poor bird of being a bully? Has your mind done a runner?"

"Lynn somehow got it in her head that doing some lucha libre with Lincoln would help her train for the game you guys have later today," the comedic Loud pointed out, her tone slowly starting to match the tone that the three oldest sisters used on Lynn earlier. Turing to face her younger sister, Luan said in a mildly suspicious tone, "Call it a hunch, but I think that all this talk about you being a bully is why you and our sisters were shouting earlier before we left for school."

Looking down at her food so that she wouldn't have to look at anyone sitting with her, Lynn went over her weekend with Lincoln in her head more thoroughly. Although close to Lynn in terms of overall size (one of the reasons why Lynn is somewhat inclined to pick Lincoln to help her), Lincoln was nowhere near Lynn's level when it came to sports. There were a few instances during the weekend, like when Lynn did the tire throwing exercise or when she and Lincoln did lucha libre, where Lincoln cried out in pain, either because Lynn accidently hit Lincoln with one of the tires, or if she got into the lucha libre a bit too much.

Lynn, in every one of those instances and others like them, told Lincoln to walk it off and get back into the game. The sporty Loud was slowly starting to realize that, because she had allowed her worry about the big game to cloud her judgment, not only was she was rougher on Lincoln during the training than she ought to have been, but that she had failed to show any concern at all for her little brother.

Her _only_ brother.

Hitting Lincoln with stray tires. Going all out during 'deluxe' lucha libre. And all of the other things. Hell, Lynn even woke Lincoln up on Sunday with a Dutch oven! Lynn was realizing that the disapproving looks from the three oldest sisters, the accusations of being a bully, the cool neutral tone Lincoln was using earlier…was all justified.

"They're…they're right…" Lynn said in a sad tone, barely loud enough for Luan, Ulfric and Mitzie to hear. The three of them became mildly alarmed when they saw tears running down the sides of Lynn's face. "I…" the sporty Loud said, "…I am a…bully…"

"This is a troubling revelation, Lynn," Ulfric said, getting her attention, "However, there is hope for you yet."

"What do you mean, luv?" Mitzie asked, regarding her Swedish friend with a curious look.

"Lynn has just admitted to being at fault, to having a problem," Ulfric explained, "Admitting to being at fault, to having a problem, is often, if not always, the first step to making amends." Turing to face Lynn, Ulfric said, "I trust that you're interested in making amends for what you have put your younger brother through, right?"

"Totally," Lynn replied, her mood lifting just a bit, and only just.

"And I further trust that you'll make a conscious effort to refrain from bullying your younger brother, or any of your siblings for that matter, right?" Ulfric continued. Seeing Lynn nod in the affirmative, Ulfric replied as his expression relaxed somewhat, "Good. I'll trust you to keep to your word, Lynn." The sporty Loud relaxed visibly but quickly shot back to attention when Ulfric continued in a foreboding tone, "I pray that I will not hear any further talk that you have been pushing any of your siblings around in the future. Bullies are a dishonorable lot that have no place on the gridiron, or at school, or _especially_ at home, where one is supposed to be as far from such strife as possible."

Lynn knew that Ulfric was the only person aside from herself who actively doused out any bullying going on at Royal Woods Middle School. In fact, there was this one incident where someone had attempted to bully Ulfric. Key word being _attempted_. It was a boy who used to be on the school's football team, but was kicked off by the coach, along with a number of other kids that were on the team, when Ulfric had exposed cheating that they were doing.

Embarrassed and wanting revenge, the boy, on his first day back at school after his suspension due to his role in the cheating, went up to Ulfric in the halls and shoved him in the back as hard as he could. The bully was not only about six inches shorter than Ulfric, but nowhere near as physically well-conditioned as the Swedish boy either; the bully was skinny whereas Ulfric was strong. Having been shoved from behind, Ulfric turned to see who was challenging him.

Things did not end all that well for the (would-be) bully.

Bully. A title that Lynn realized to her great regret could now be applied to her. "I'll keep my word," Lynn said with steeled resolve as she stood up. To her friends and Luan, Lynn said, "I swear that I will do my utmost to refrain from using any of my siblings, or anyone who doesn't deserve it for that matter, as punching bags. And if I fall back into pushing someone around, I want you guys to promise me you'll smack me back into place."

"I…wouldn't go so far as to smack you around, luv," Mitzie said, "At most, I'd get an adult who would get results and tell them that you're being a loon."

"Mitzie's right, sis," Luan agreed, "We wouldn't quote unquote 'smack you around' unless forced, although I see that you got your heart in the right place."

Smiling, Lynn said, "Heh, sorry. I just wanted to get my point across."

"There is still the matter of making amends with your younger brother," Ulfric pointed out.

"Well, me and Luan's sister Lori said that she was considering taking Lincoln to the arcade and maybe the comic book store to make up for the crappy weekend that I regretfully put him through," Lynn began, "Maybe I can-"

Lynn was cut off when a number of teachers came into the cafeteria, with two of those teachers blowing on whistles to get everyone's attention. "There's been an emergency!" one of the teachers who had blown on a whistle shouted in a commanding tone, "We need all of you to head to your next period classes right now!"

"An emergency?" Mitzie whispered to Lynn, Luan and Ulfric in a panicked tone, "What the bloody hell is going on?"

"I have no clue," Lynn replied, "But come on. We can discuss this in our Language Arts class."

"A good thing the four of us are all in the same Language Arts class, huh?" Luan remarked, "It's a real class act. Get it?"

"Emergencies are seldom ever good times for cracking jokes, Luan," Ulfric whispered as he and the girls proceeded to make their way to their Language Arts class room.

* * *

When Lynn, Luan, Mitzie and Ulfric got to their class, they noticed that all of the curtains were drawn, the lights were all out, and the little rectangular window on the classroom door that was on its end was covered completely. Furthermore, when the kids entered the classroom, they were told by their teacher to get down on the floor and not make a sound.

"Guys, I'm scared," Luan whispered to Lynn and Lynn's friends as loudly as she dared (it wasn't all that loud).

"It is important to remain calm and remember that our teachers know what they're doing," Ulfric replied to Luan at approximately the same volume as the comedic Loud sibling, "They have our best interests in mind."

"Man, the teachers are acting like a school shooting is going on or something," Lynn whispered to her group, drawing a very frightened 'eep!' out of Luan.

"I highly doubt that," Ulfric whispered to Lynn, "I didn't hear any gun fire, nor did anyone else for that matter. This is most likely a drill."

"Or the school's worried that something's going to blow," Mitzie whispered in a worried tone, drawing the attention of Lynn, Luan and Ulfric; the three of them saw that Mitzie was fiddling around with her smart phone. "There's a breaking news report that I'm looking at here, mates," Mitzie continued quietly. Shaking her head as if she thought what she was looking at can't be right, the British girl whispered, "You are not going to believe this."

The other three kids in the group all read what Mitzie had up on her smartphone; what they saw had all of them shocked, not to mention the fact that it set a particular degree of fear into Lynn and Luan's respective hearts.

 _BOMBING AT ROYAL WOODS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL_ , _AT LEAST TWENTY CONFIRMED DEAD_

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER ONE

Author's notes:

…Well, that's frigg'en ominous.


	2. Chapter 2

Pre-chapter author's note: It's no secret that this story had something of a shaky start. As such, I was unsure if I actually wanted to go through with continuing this story or not. Ultimately, I decided to go through with it. The only way to know for sure how this will work is to see how things go as they develop. Without further ado, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter two: Big sister bully part two- Surprise Fright

As soon as everyone was given the clear, the students of Royal Woods Middle School were evacuated out of the school and taken to a safe area. Lynn Loud Jr., her older sister Luan, and Lynn's friends Mitzie Cornwell and Ulfric Aesir, were standing around in the parking lot of the school with a large number of other students. There were a few police cars parked around the area; the sight of those police cars brought some degree of relief to the panicking students of Royal Woods Middle School.

And panicking they were. Those students who had smartphones, such as Lynn's friend Mitzie, discovered via news outlets that there was a bombing at Royal Woods Elementary School. For safety reasons, all schools in the city were being evacuated. It goes without saying that the big football game that Lynn and the rest of her teammates on the Royal Woods Middle School football team were going to play in was canceled, as it was a home game.

And yet Lynn, the Loud family's resident jock, couldn't care less.

One by one, vehicles were cleared by the summoned police to drive into the parking lot of the middle school to pick up kids. About thirty minutes after all of the students were filed into the parking lot, Lynn and her sister Luan saw Vanzilla drive in. When the van pulled up along the curb where the two Loud girls stood, they saw their older sister Lori in the driver's seat. Unlike with Royal Woods Elementary or Royal Woods Middle, Royal Woods High School had the day off due to some sort of teacher holiday; this gave Lori, along with Lynn and Luan's other older sisters Leni and Luna, the day off of school.

Before anything, Lori lowered the window on the driver's side door and spoke to her younger sisters. "Van, now," the oldest Loud sibling ordered as she jerked her thumb over her shoulder to point to the back seats of Vanzilla. The two younger Loud girls, understanding the severity of the situation full well, both nodded once in an obedient manner before they climbed in. Once the two younger Loud girls were buckled in, Lori proceeded to make her way out of the parking lot of the middle school.

Just after some police officers gave Lori the clear to take off out of the parking lot, the oldest Loud girl said, "Just so you know Lynn, you are literally not going to play in that game today. I'm sorry, but there is no way I'm going to let you outside needlessly, given how everyone is on high alert right now."

"The game was canceled," Lynn replied dejectedly in a sad tone.

Catching the tone in her younger sister's response, Lori scoffed in a knowing manner. "Don't tell me you're upset that you aren't going to play football," the oldest Loud sibling remarked.

"It's not that," Lynn said in the same tone as before, shaking her head gently in the negative. Inhaling and exhaling before she continued, Lynn said, "My friend Mitzie had her smartphone with her. She found a breaking news article on some media site and showed it to me, Luan and Ulfric." Her tone becoming somewhat quieter but still understandable, Lynn continued, "I know what happened."

Sighing, Lori said, "Yeah, it's true, unfortunately. There's literally been some sort of bombing over at Lincoln's school. At the time that I came to your and Luan's school to grab you girls, no one has any idea who was responsible or why. All that is known at the moment is that at least twenty people have been…" Lori trailed off, needing to take a breath to steady herself. "…At least twenty people have been killed," Lori continued as her tone started to waver, "Oh, Luan? You're going to have to cancel that party you're scheduled to perform at."

"Already on it," Luan replied, having gotten out a cell phone to make a call. While Luan was in the process of canceling the party performance, Lynn looked to Lori.

"Hey Lori," Lynn began in an unsure tone, "Do you…do you know if-"

"I have no clue if Lincoln is okay or not, Lynn," Lori interrupted, her tone clearly indicating that she was trying not to break down and cry, "And not knowing if our little brother is alive or not is literally tearing me apart." Right as Lori finished talking, Luan's call ended, allowing the comedic Loud sibling to flip her cell phone closed and put it away.

"As it turned out, the parents of the kid whose party I was going to perform at wanted to cancel the party anyway," Luan said in a sad, worried tone, "They're far too worried about something bad happening due to the bombing at the elementary school." Gently shaking her head, Luan continued, "I guess it all works out, then." For the rest of the van ride home, Lynn could only stare out of the window.

It was still beyond belief that something as horrific as a bombing could happen. To make things worse, Lincoln, the sole boy among the Loud siblings, had been caught up in that particular brand of chaos. Knowing this not only made Lynn fear for her little brother's life, but it made her feel guilt beyond any that the sporty Loud had experienced before; over the previous weekend, Lynn had more or less shanghaied Lincoln into being her workout slash training partner to help her get ready for the big football game.

Blinded by a desire to get ready for the game, not to mention more than a hint of happiness that she was spending time with one of her siblings, Lynn was rougher with Lincoln than normal; Luna's accusing of Lynn having trouble telling the difference between Lincoln and a punching bag was, as Lynn had started to realize, not too far off the mark. Things came to a boiling point that morning, before everyone had left for school, where the three oldest Loud siblings had called Lynn out on her rough treatment of Lincoln, saying that she had been bullying Lincoln all weekend long.

An accusation that Lincoln agreed with all too much.

The ride to their respective destinations was quite laced with tension, and right when Lincoln was dropped off at Royal Woods Elementary, Lynn got his attention, wanting to apologize. But Lincoln, very understandably upset with his jock of an older sister, cut her off and curtly told her that he'd see her later. That was the last thing Lincoln said, the last thing Lynn remembered her little brother saying. The last impression Lincoln had of Lynn before heading off to his classes on this day was that she is a bully. Then the bombing happened; there's the very real and distinct possibility that Lincoln was caught up in it. Worse yet, there's a very good chance that Lincoln might be among the twenty plus people confirmed to have been killed.

Lincoln would die thinking that Lynn was a bully.

" _I am SO sorry_ , _Lincoln_ ," Lynn thought sadly as she starred out the window, " _Please_ , _little bro_ , _I_ ' _m begging you_. _Please be alive_."

* * *

The Loud sisters were all in the living room of their house, sitting around practically on the edge of their seats. Lucy, Lola and Lana, who normally go to Royal Woods Elementary, were out sick today, so they weren't caught up in the violence. Lisa just got back from the college she taught classes at, which had all of its classes canceled for the rest of the day due to the scare of the bombing over at the elementary school. Lynn and Luan were just brought home by Lori, who had the day off from high school due to a teacher holiday of some sort. Luna and Leni likewise had the day off as well. And baby Lily was with the siblings' mother Rita over in California; Rita was assisting an old friend of hers with something related to a relative who passed away.

This meant that Lincoln was the only Loud sibling unaccounted for.

"Does mom even know what happened, dude?" Luna asked, "I mean, Lincoln's school has just been-"

"Given what happened, I highly doubt that it hadn't made the national news by now," Lisa interrupted, her usual dry monotone noticeably strained.

"I woke up from a nap to try and sleep off some of my stomach flu, and the first thing I hear about is that the school I go to was attacked," Lucy said, her tone as neutral as it usually is, "That is beyond grim. Far too grim for my tastes, that's for sure."

"You guys, the bad people who attacked the school did so while Linky was there," Leni said, tears streaming down her worried face, "What if Linky was hurt? What if Linky was k-"

"If you finish that sentence, I will literally turn you into a human pretzel!" Lori snapped as she turned on her heels to face Leni, pointing dramatically at her in an accusing fashion. Despite the firm look in Lori's face, it was very much clear to the other girls that Lori was just as concerned for Lincoln as they were, just as upset as they were with what was going on.

Just as afraid that Lincoln wouldn't be coming home ever again.

Sniffling as she tried and failed not to cry, Lola said as she gently shook her head, "I can't believe we have no idea if Lincoln's okay. I don't like not knowing if Lincoln's okay. I want Lincoln here with us." The pageant princess rested her face in her knees as she started to sob quietly. Lana, for her part, gently patted her twin sister on the back in a sympathetic manner.

Just as Lola's crying started to get a bit louder, the front door opened, with Lynn Sr. walking into the house, a grim look on his face. "Dad!" the Loud girls all exclaimed when they saw the patriarch of the family. The girls all rushed Lynn Sr., with most of them bombarding the poor man with question after question; only Lori, the one trying to keep from losing it, did not bombard her dad. In fact, she helped him get things under control.

"QUIET!" Lori shrieked at the top of her lungs, getting the other Loud girls to shut up. To her dad, Lori said, "In all honesty, you literally can't blame them."

"Yeah," Lynn Sr. remarked somberly in an understanding tone, "I suppose you girls all want to know about Lincoln, right?" That last part Lynn Sr. said restarted the flood of questions, which was just as quickly ended by Lori again. "I just got back from Royal Woods General, where everyone who was caught up in the bombing was taken," Lynn Sr. began, "As I feared, your brother was hurt very badly in the bombing. But Lincoln IS alive, albeit unconscious and in critical condition." Hearing this made the girls all cry, albeit in relief. Lincoln, their only brother, may have been very badly hurt in the bombing, and is currently in critical condition.

But he is still _alive_.

" _My little brother_ ' _s still alive_ ," Lynn thought in relief as she wiped a tear from her eye, " _Thank goodness he_ ' _s still alive_."

Lynn was brought out of her thoughts when a cell phone went off. Her dad realized that it was his phone, so he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Hello?" Lynn Sr. said into the phone, "Oh, hello, doctor. What do you…What? Are you sure there's no other…" The grim look that was on the Loud patriarch's face returned somewhat as he said into the phone, "Very well. I'll be coming back to the hospital to talk with you about this. I'll see you later." Ending the call, the Loud patriarch turned to face his daughters. "Girls, that was one of the doctors I spoke with at the hospital earlier," Lynn Sr. began, "I need to head back to the hospital to go over something with him."

"Is Lincoln still okay, daddy?" Lola asked as she started to cry again, "He's still okay, right?"

"Your brother is still okay, sweetie," Lynn Sr. replied, "But the doctor I just spoke with on the phone wants me to come back to the hospital to discuss something with him about Lincoln." Looking to Lori, Lynn Sr. said, "Lori, you're in charge while I'm gone."

"Got it," Lori replied with a nod. Then, just as quickly as he came back, Lynn Sr. was out the door again. When the Loud patriarch was gone, the girls all began to talk amongst themselves.

"Come on, everyone," Lola said, "Quit worrying! Dad just said that Lincoln's okay! We need to focus on planning the best welcome home party ever for when Lincoln gets out of the hospital!"

"Hang on there, Lola," Lori interrupted in a sympathetic tone, "I know that you're eager to see Lincoln. Trust me, all of us literally want the same thing. But Lincoln is not out of the woods just yet. Given that dad just had to return to the hospital to discuss something with one of the doctors, there's a very good chance that not only is there something seriously wrong with Lincoln, but that he'll be at the hospital for quite some time. It's not like the doctor will just slap a bandage onto Lincoln and he'll be good to go."

"I would apply the bandage as gently as possible to Linky," Leni remarked, "I wouldn't just slap it onto him."

"That's not what I-" Lori began, but stopped short and sighed in a resigned tone. "Never mind," Lori continued as she gently shook her head, "Look, the point is that Lincoln will most likely be staying at the hospital for a while."

"How long, exactly?" Lana asked, tilting her head to the side slightly as she wore a confused expression.

Shaking her head gently, Lori replied, "I literally have no clue. Dad should be able to give us an answer when he gets back, though. In the meanwhile, all we can do is pray for Lincoln. Pray that he recovers as quickly as possible and comes back here, where he belongs."

The next few hours saw the Loud girls going about what would be expected of them given their lack of energy in light of what was going on. Their dad took so long that Lori decided that ordering some pizzas for dinner would be better than waiting for the Loud patriarch to come home and cook the usual Monday night dinner. But then again, chances are that, even if he was home, Lynn Sr. would not be in any mood to cook.

Not while his only son is in the hospital.

"I was thinking," Leni said as she and her sisters ate pizza, "That when Linky gets home from the hospital, that we should take him to the mall. We can take him shopping, and get him a pedicure, and-"

"That sounds like stuff that you would want to do, dude," Luna remarked.

"Although I do love doing that, we'll be doing this for Linky," Leni reiterated.

"It's sweet that you have your heart in the right place, Leni," Lori remarked, "But the first thing Lincoln has to do once he gets home from the hospital is rest here at home for a few days. And it's important to remember that we have to be gentle with him." Shooting a quick glance at Lynn before returning her attention to her sisters as a whole, Lori added, "Having just come home after being treated at the hospital, Lincoln will literally be in no condition for any of the usual antics we're usually up to. If I catch any of you girls trying to drag Lincoln into anything crazy while he's trying to recover, I will literally turn all of the offending girls into human pretzels. Do I make myself clear?"

As the other sisters all nodded in agreement, they heard the front door open. A few seconds later, Lynn Sr. walked into the kitchen. Seeing the pizza boxes on the table, Lynn Sr. said, "Yeah, good call on the pizzas. I wasn't really in the mood to cook anyway." Sighing, the Loud patriarch continued, "I'm certainly in no mood to cook now."

"Is Lincoln okay, dad?" Lucy asked, a slight but noticeable amount of emotion in her otherwise emotionless monotone.

"Your brother is fine, and he'll recover soon enough," Lynn Sr. replied. Sighing once again, the Loud patriarch continued, "However, it's going to be quite some time before Lincoln will come home from the hospital."

"Exactly how long are we talking here, pops?" Luna asked, slightly fearing the answer.

"About…about three to four weeks," Lynn Sr. confessed, and as he expected, his daughters were upset by this news.

"Are you seriously trying to suggest that my sisters and I have to wait for approximately a month before we get to see our brother again?" Lisa asked, clearly upset with the news.

"Dad, if this is a joke, then it's not a funny one," Luan said, "It's the opposite of funny."

"It's no joke," Lynn Sr. stated, "And I am serious. We just…we just need to remember to keep Lincoln in our prayers, alright?"

As upset as they were, the Loud girls knew that there was no room for negotiation. If Lincoln had to stay hospitalized for close to a month, then he was going to stay there. And there was a good chance that the girls wouldn't be allowed to go see him at the hospital during that time. The next three to four weeks were going to be the most painful three to four weeks for the Loud sisters that they would ever experience.

This was especially true for Lynn.

* * *

The following few weeks seemed to have dragged on forever for the Loud sisters. Not only did their mom and Lily not return from California yet (the airlines were being astronomically stupid for some odd reason), but the Loud sisters seemingly lacked the usual flare they had for their various activities.

Also, since the Loud sisters all missed their only brother and were worried about him beyond belief, there were a few instances where, in the morning, one of the sisters would be found sleeping in Lincoln's bed, as if doing so brought the sole Loud boy closer so that they could play with him and hug him and never let him go. The first time a sister was discovered like this, it was Lana who had been found. This was followed by Lisa, who was followed by Lucy, who was followed by Lola.

Who was followed by Leni.

Sometime on Wednesday morning of the fourth week, with the memory of the bombing still fresh on the minds of everyone in Royal Woods, Lynn Sr. got the girls together in the living room before they could go to school, saying that he had something really big to tell them. "I said I was sorry about accidentally spilling a bottle of perfume in Linky's room," Leni remarked at the beginning of the family meeting.

"That's not what this is about, Leni," Lynn Sr. remarked, "Girls, I just got a call from the hospital. Your brother will be able to come home later today." Hearing this news made the Loud girls all cheer. "Now hang on a minute," Lynn Sr. interrupted, "Keep in mind that Lincoln will still be a little weak from his stay at the hospital. It's important to remember to be gentle."

"When will Lincoln come home, daddy?" Lola asked, "It won't be while we're all at school, will it? It'd be super lame if we miss Lincoln's big return home."

"I'll be bringing Lincoln home at around five thirty in the afternoon," Lynn Sr. replied, "So all of you girls should be home by then. Besides, there are a few last-minute things I have to take care of at the hospital anyway in regards to signing papers and whatnot. Also, I need to do a bit of shopping, not to mention making a quick stop at the local pharmacy to pick up the medication the doctor prescribed for your brother."

"Medication?" Lisa said in a confused and very mildly worried tone, "What kind of medication are we talking about here, father?"

"Nothing that you should concern yourself with, Lisa," Lynn Sr. replied. To the girls as a whole, the Loud patriarch said, "That goes for all of you. Now you girls have school to get ready for, or a college to teach at in Lisa's case." The girls all nodded in understanding, and as such they got themselves ready for their respective days at school (or at teaching college, in Lisa's case). None of the girls could wait to get home from school (or college) that day.

* * *

The school day could not go by fast enough for Lynn, who had so much to apologize to Lincoln for. In fact, making it up to Lincoln for everything that she had done to him was the only thing that the sporty Loud could think of. During lunch that day, Lynn was sitting in the cafeteria with Luan, Mitzie and Ulfric.

"Ay, there's a jolly good show to that, mates!" Mitzie remarked to Lynn and Luan, "Your brother's finally coming home from the hospital! Glad to hear it!"

"I have no doubt that you two and the rest of your sisters intend to throw a celebration for your brother's safe return home," Ulfric said, "It must relieve you two and your sisters beyond belief that your brother will be back with the rest of the Loud clan."

"He could not have gotten home fast enough, let me tell you," Luan said to the foreign born thirteen-year-olds, "I've been working on this comedy routine that I intend to perform during the welcome home party. I've never done it before, so Lincoln and the rest of our siblings will be the first to see it!"

"…Mmm…" Lynn hummed, nodding a bit without saying anything else. The lack of words coming from Lynn got the attention of her sister, Mitzie and Ulfric.

"Are you okay there, Lynn?" Luan asked, "You aren't talking much."

"You are troubled, are you not?" Ulfric said, "Come now, we would be hearing what's on your mind. Why are you troubled?"

Realizing that her friends and sister weren't going to take no for an answer, the sporty Loud decided to talk. "The last impression of me that Lincoln had prior to the bombing was that I'm a bully," Lynn explained, "I want to apologize to him, to make things right with him. I'm just worried that…" Lynn trailed off as her expression became kind of downcast. "…That Lincoln won't let me," Lynn finished.

This drew sympathetic looks from Lynn's friends and Luan. In fact, Luan herself laid a hand on Lynn's shoulder, getting the sporty Loud to look up at her. With Lynn focusing on her now, Luan gently shook her head before shooting Lynn a warm smile. "Lynn, there is no need to be afraid of Lincoln not wanting to let you try and make it up to him," Luan said, "This is Lincoln we're talking about here. The only reason why you wouldn't be able to try and make things up to Lincoln when he gets home is because our sisters will be hogging him."

"Luan's right, you know," Mitzie remarked to the sporty Loud, "Why, I can imagine that your younger sisters will be especially keen on wanting to keep your brother company. That's a downside to having so many siblings, I suppose. Although if you think about it, the fact that your brother has so many siblings ready to welcome him home from the hospital more than makes up for it."

Lynn realized that Mitzie and Luan were right; the only thing that would keep Lynn from trying to rectify how she treated Lincoln prior to the bombing would be the other Loud sisters wanting to be with the brother that they nearly lost. Mitzie had an additional point on the fact that, with so much family being there to receive Lincoln, he would have no shortage of love and support to help him readjust to everything.

Lynn was going to make sure that she would be there for Lincoln, every step of the way.

* * *

That afternoon after their various obligations were done, the Loud sisters were all at home, setting up a welcoming home party for Lincoln. "Come on, girls, let's try to hurry it up around here," Lori said as she oversaw the set up for the party, "Dad will be bringing Lincoln back from the hospital any minute now!"

"Where should I put this mud that I made?" Lana asked as she was holding some handfuls of mud.

"Outside in the backyard," Lori ordered, "Mud has no place in the house!"

"How about these speakers?" Luna asked, pointing to two large speakers she had out.

"Put them back in your and Luan's room," Lori said.

"Lynn left her balls in the living room again!" Lola complained as she pointed to a few sports balls that were in the living room.

"Lynn! Come pick your balls up right now!" Lori nearly shouted. After Lynn had collected her sports balls from the living room and returned them to her and Lucy's room, Lucy herself saw Vanzilla pull into the driveway from the living room window.

"They're back, everyone!" Lucy said, a surprisingly high amount of emotion in her tone, even though it still sounded somewhat monotone. All of the sisters gathered around and looked out the window, watching as Lynn Sr. opened the left side door of Vanzilla to pull out a few bags from the shopping he had to do. As the Loud patriarch gathered a few of the bags, Lincoln came walking around from the other side of the van. Other than a scar on the side of his head and the fact that Lincoln's left leg seemed to be moving somewhat stiffly for some odd reason, Lincoln seemed as fine as he was when Lori dropped him off at school on that fateful day.

"He's back!" Lola cheered excitedly, "Lincoln's finally back!"

"Now girls, remember what I said about not rushing him," Lori said, and not one second after the oldest Loud sibling was done talking, the others all ran out the front door and right over to where Lincoln was now helping Lynn Sr. unload some of the bags. "I said no rushing him!" Lori yelled from the front door of the Loud residence.

Lori's commands fell on deaf ears, however, as the other sisters all swarmed Lincoln in a group hug. Having missed him just as much as her sisters, Lori decided to disregard her own advice and run over to hug Lincoln as well, albeit while showing more restraint than her younger sisters. There was just as much crying as there was hugging as the Loud sisters welcomed their only brother back home.

"I missed you all too," Lincoln said as he struggled to get a word in over the noise his sisters were making, "But I need to breathe!" After the girls backed off enough, Lincoln continued, "Seriously, though. Thanks for such a warm reception, girls. Everything I've been through has been a total pain in the rear for me."

"If you girls want to make yourselves useful, then help me carry these bags in," Lynn Sr. said as he gestured to the bags from his shopping.

"Yeah, we can use a hand here," Lincoln said as he started to bend over to pick up one of the bags. However, the Loud patriarch stopped him.

"Sorry, son, but I'd rather that you not trouble yourself," Lynn Sr. said with a concerned look on his face, "Just let me and your sisters handle everything."

"It's just one bag, dad," Lincoln remarked. Taking a quick look at it, Lincoln added, "All that's in it is a pack of paper towels and the bag from the pharmacy."

"Dad's right, little dude," Luna remarked as she walked over and picked up the bag Lincoln was originally aiming to pick up himself, "I mean, you shouldn't have to help carry this inside."

"A bag that weighs almost nothing?" Lincoln retorted, a confused and somewhat suspicious look on his face.

"Although our family is being overly cautious, my dear brother," Lisa began as she walked over to Lincoln, "You can't quite blame them. After all, you did stay in the hospital for an extended period of time as you recovered from severe injuries you received in an attack on your school that could have claimed your life."

 _Could have claimed your life_. Those words echoed in Lynn Jr.'s head repeatedly as she and the others assisted their dad with getting all of the bags inside. The Loud family's resident genius had hit the nail on the head all too well.

Driving that nail into the sporty Loud sibling's heart.

* * *

Later, after all of the bags from Lynn Sr.'s shopping had been brought in and put away, the Loud sisters proceeded to throw the party they had set up for Lincoln. Even though he was still a little tired from his long stay in the hospital, the sole Loud boy pushed through the tiredness anyway, appreciating all that his sisters had done for his sake. Lincoln legitimately enjoyed the party anyway. He even got a kick out of it when Lori told him what Leni had planned.

"A trip to the mall does actually sound nice, now that you mention it," Lincoln remarked to Leni, "Although I'm afraid that it's going to have to wait a bit. I don't think I'm really all that up for a mall trip at the moment."

"Oh, I hope you feel better soon, Linky," Leni replied, "Because nothing's better than a day at the mall! We can go shopping, and get pedicures, and grab lunch at-"

"Umm, sorry for interrupting," Lincoln said as he cut his older sister off, his tone clearly sounding unsure, "But a pedicure is where they tend to your hands and fingernails, right?"

Giggling cutely, Leni said, "No, silly, that's a manicure. A pedicure is where they tend to your feet and toenails. Although now that the subject's been brought up, a manicure sounds really great right about now."

"Yeah, girls," Lynn Sr. said as he walked over to where the oldest of the sisters were talking to Lincoln, "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to say no to the idea of a pedicure."

"Linky and I can still get manicures though," Leni began in a hopeful and mildly sad tone, "Right, dad?"

"Umm, yeah, no," Lynn Sr. replied with a gentle shake of his head, "Sorry, but I can't shake the feeling of Lincoln getting a manicure or pedicure being a weird idea."

"What's weird about Lincoln joining us in our activities, pops?" Luna asked, "Heck, he rocks out with me all the time!"

"He occasionally plays with me in the mud," Lana stated.

"He helps me with Funny Business from time to time," Luan pointed out.

"Lincoln usually joins me when I play sports in the bac-" Lynn began, but she stopped short before she could finish what she was saying. A downcast look on her face, the sporty Loud looked to the floor where she was standing.

"…Ehh, it's more the idea of Lincoln getting a manicure or pedicure than doing any of what you girls just said," Lynn Sr. replied as he gestured to his more tomboyish daughters. To Lynn specifically, Lynn Sr. continued "Although in regards to you, Junior, I'm going to have to ask that you not bring Lincoln into playing sports with you for the time being." Seeing the upset look on his sporty daughter's face, Lynn Sr. said, "Oh, I know it sounds bad, Junior, but Lincoln needs a lot of time to rest."

Scoffing in a knowing manner, Lori said, "It's not that, dad. Lynn's just upset that she can't bring her favorite punching bag along with her to play sports." Although the Loud patriarch proceeded to give Lori a mild scolding for saying such a thing, Lynn Jr. tuned everything out. Having heard Lori refer to Lincoln as Lynn's favorite punching bag stung at the sporty Loud's feelings, stung at her heart.

Lori's word stung Lynn because they were _true_.

* * *

After the party dissolved, the Loud girls all went about their business. Although each of the girls, without exception, wanted Lincoln to join them. In fact, the only sister who has yet to interact with Lincoln to any significant extent since his arrival home from the hospital was Lynn. This was due to mostly to the other sisters keeping Lincoln's time occupied, although Lynn's guilt over how she treated Lincoln prior to that fateful day had a fair say in Lynn's reluctance to go up to her little brother, her only brother.

Even though she knew it was going to be extremely awkward, Lynn knew that she had to at least try to apologize to Lincoln. Leaving her and Lucy's room where she sat on her bed to think, Lynn walked down the stairs and made a beeline for the living room, mostly because she saw the back of Lincoln's head peek out from over the top of the sofa.

Lynn turned around and walked into the living room, and when she did, she saw that Lola and Lana were sitting on the sofa with Lincoln; Lola was on Lincoln's left whereas Lana was on Lincoln's right. The twins were both wearing yellow hall monitor sashes and sunglasses for some odd reason.

"Umm, hey there," Lynn began, and would have continued but the twins hopped off of the sofa and confronted their sporty older sister.

"What's your business, civilian?" Lana asked.

"Civilian?" Lyn repeated in a confused tone, "Girls, it's me, Lynn."

"Really?" Lola said in a suspicious tone. Holding her right hand out and making the 'hand it over' gesture with it, Lola stated, "Show me some ID. I wanna see some ID."

"Girls…" Lynn said in a mildly annoyed tone.

"Lola, Lana, relax," Lincoln said as he got up off of the sofa, wincing somewhat as he stood up. "Lynn probably wants to talk to me, okay?" Lincoln said, "So let her."

Smiling a bit, Lynn said, "Thanks, bro."

"No problem," Lincoln replied, "So go on. Tell me what's on your mind."

Sighing in a resigned tone, Lynn began, "There's no easy way for me to open this can of worms, so I'm just going to go right into it." Taking a breath to steady her nerves, Lynn began, "Hey Lincoln, you remember the last time we saw each other prior to…you know…what happened, right?"

"Umm, yeah," Lincoln replied, looking somewhat embarrassed, "I'm guessing you're upset?"

"I'm surprised that you aren't upset!" Lynn said back, catching Lincoln (and the twins to a lesser extent) off guard. "Do you now remember how roughly I treated you during that weekend?!" Lynn asked, "How much pain I put you through?! How can you be so lenient, so forgiving, even though I don't deserve it?!" Hanging her head in shame, Lynn finished in a lame tone, "I am sorry, Lincoln. I am so s-" Lynn was cut off when she felt something wrap around her. When she looked up to see what it was, she was shocked beyond words.

Lincoln was hugging her.

"I'm sorry too," Lincoln said as he continued to hug his older sister. Hearing her little brother apologize to _her_ , even though she's the one who has to apologize to him, Lynn suddenly found herself overcoming her shock.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Lynn asked, still in something of a mild state of shock, "You haven't done anything to apologize for."

"The last time we talked before I was hospitalized didn't end on a pleasant note," Lincoln explained as he continued to hug Lynn, "I realize that, if I didn't make it, that would have been the last memory you would have had of me." Lincoln broke away from the hug, faced Lynn. "You have no idea how bad I felt," Lincoln continued, "As I recovered in the hospital, when I realized that the last memory you had of me could have been me coldly brushing you off before I headed off to class." Shaking his head gently, Lincoln said, "That isn't the last memory that I'd want you, or any of our family members for that matter, to have of me. That's why I'm saying that I'm sorry, Lynn."

Hearing this, the sporty Loud lost what little willpower she was putting towards not breaking down into tears. Wrapping her arms around Lincoln this time, Lynn proceeded to cry her eyes out as she said sorry to Lincoln over and over and over again. After Lynn broke away from the hug, Lincoln said, "Hey, Lynn. Apology accepted. Just try not to be too rough the next time you drag me into one of your sports things, alright?"

"You got it," Lynn replied as she sniffled a lot.

"Also," Lincoln added, "There's this new burger on the menu over at Burpin' Burger that I've been wanting to try at some point. You wanna come with me if I ever go and try it?"

"Sounds like a plan," Lynn said as she wiped a tear from her eye. The sporty Loud couldn't help but smile; here Lincoln was, trying to cheer her up, apologizing to her, and forgiving her, letting her know that everything is okay.

* * *

Sometime in the middle of the night, Lynn shot awake. Looking to the clock on her nightstand, Lynn saw that it was roughly two thirty in the morning. As tired as she was, the sporty Loud just didn't have it in her to go back to sleep, not after waking up from the nightmare she just had. A nightmare that basically replayed the events of the last couple of weeks.

The only change was that Lincoln didn't make it.

Spooked by her terrible dream and still feeling guilty over how she had treated Lincoln prior to that fateful day, Lynn got out of bed, quietly made her way out of the room so as to not wake Lucy up, and quietly walked over to Lincoln's bedroom door, which she noticed right away was hanging open. When she walked past the staircase, Lynn heard the faint hum of the television being on, so she temporarily turned her attention to see who was downstairs this late.

When she walked far enough down the stairs, Lynn caught a glimpse of the top of Lincoln's head, as he was sitting on the sofa, the TV in front of him turned on to some random show. What especially concerned Lynn was that Lincoln was crying. "Lincoln?" Lynn called out just loud enough to get her little brother's attention. When he turned to see his athletic older sister standing on the stairs, Lincoln quickly panicked.

"Lynn!" Lincoln said in a shocked tone as loudly as he dared, "What are you-"

"What are you doing up so late, little bro?" Lynn replied with a confused look on her face as she finished walking down the stairs. Walking on over to where Lincoln sat, Lynn continued in a concerned tone, "You didn't have a nightmare, did y-" Lynn stopped short when, as she looked at Lincoln, she felt as if she was in a nightmare herself.

Lincoln was sitting on the sofa wearing a sleep outfit consisting of a baggy orange t-shirt and his victory undies. Nothing off about that in and of itself. However, something a lot more specific was off about Lincoln, something that the sight of which Lynn firmly believed would haunt her for as long as she would live.

Most of Lincoln's left leg was horrifically darkened due to bruising, brutally scarred, and one of the scars on Lincoln's left shin even looked like it was bleeding a little.

Lynn screamed.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWO

Author's Notes:

I've been wanting to try my hand at writing material that's darker than what I usually write. I have no idea how good of a job I've done, so as one can suspect, this is just a work in progress. Anywho, the next chapter will see how the Loud sisters will each react to the news of Lincoln's terrible injury.

Lynn is especially upset.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter three: Big sister bully part three- Justice is served

It was much later in the morning before everyone started to get up at the Loud residence to greet the day. With the exception of Loud matriarch Rita and baby Lily, both of which were still stuck in California because of an obscene amount of incompetency on the airline's part, everyone in the house was woken up in the middle of the night by Lynn's horrified screaming. Some of the more belligerent sisters, Lori in particular, were ready to tear Lynn a new one for waking them up at so ungodly an hour, but all such thoughts fled all of the sisters when they saw _why_ Lynn had screamed.

Lincoln's left leg was horrifically scarred and brutally bruised.

In the living room at a much more convenient time in the morning, the patriarch of the Loud family, Lynn Sr., had gathered all his children who were present in the house to discuss what Lynn Jr. had discovered in the wee hours of the morning. "I'm…" Lynn Sr. began in an unsure tone, "…Guessing that you girls all want an explanation."

"Does this all have something to do with Lincoln's groady leg?" Lana asked in a mildly confused tone as she raised her hand.

"You literally better take that back," Lori snapped angrily at Lana while shaking a fist at her in a threatening manner, "You insensitive little-"

"Lori, calm down!" Lynn Sr. ordered, cutting his oldest child off midsentence. To Lana, the Loud patriarch said in a sympathetic and understanding tone, "Unfortunately, this does indeed have to do with your older brother's left leg."

"What's wrong with Linky's leg?" Leni asked, looking even more confused that Lana.

"Judging by the fact that our brother unit's left leg is covered in scars and discolored bruising," Lisa said as she began to go over a theory that she had, "I would say that the doctors at the hospital were barely able to save it. Lincoln's left leg is clearly still healing, so it should go without saying that we as a family should do what we can to make things easier for Lincoln. At least until he's fully healed."

"He's still the same Lincoln that we've always known, isn't he, daddy?" Lola asked, a concerned and very worried look on her face.

"Of course, he is, sweetie," Lynn Sr. replied, "What happened hasn't changed any of that."

"Oh, thank goodness," Lola replied; sitting on her older brother's immediate right, Lola threw her arms around Lincoln, buried her face into his chest and began to cry softly. Lana, who was on Lincoln's immediate left, did the same as her younger twin.

"Wait a minute pops, I got a quick question," Luna began as she raised a hand, "Does mom know about how badly Lincoln's been hurt?"

"None of you girls told your mother yet, did you?" Lynn Sr. asked. When all of the girls confirmed than none of them hadn't spoken to Rita about Lincoln's injury, Lynn Sr. sighed in relief and said, "Good. I'll be the one to tell your mother about this, girls. Just leave it to me."

Luan was about to say something, but she was cut off before she could speak when someone said, "I'm sorry." Recognizing the voice that had spoken all too well, the sisters all turned their attention to Lincoln, the one who had spoken, who had apologized. "I'm sorry, dad," Lincoln said as tears started to well up in the corners of his eyes, "I just couldn't sleep last night because I woke up from a nightmare where I was back at the attack at my school so I came downstairs to try and-" Lincoln was cut off mid-explanation when his older sister Lynn, who had moved to stand right in front of him, placed her hands on his shoulders so that she would have his complete attention.

"Why are you apologizing?" Lynn said, "None of this is your fault! You haven't done anything to apologize for! If anything, _we_ ' _re_ the ones who need to apologize to _you_!"

Sighing, Lynn Sr. said, "Junior's got a point, son. There's no need for you to apologize. You aren't to blame for anything." To his children as a whole, Lynn Sr. said, "Now girls, I believe that the lot of you have school to get ready for, or in Lisa's case, classes at college to teach. I'm also going to have to ask that you keep this business concerning Lincoln's injury to yourselves." Seeing that some of the youngest Loud sisters were about to object, Lynn Sr. said, "Don't worry, girls. Lincoln will be seeing you after school."

"You mean he won't come back today?" Lola asked, looking a little bit upset at the news that her big brother won't be coming back to school right away.

"Lincoln literally just got out of the hospital yesterday after staying there for close to a month, Lola," Lori pointed out, "Of course, he won't be heading back to classes right away."

"Then what will we tell Clyde, or any of Lincoln's other friends?" Lucy asked. All of Lincoln's friends at school, Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zach, along with a number of other kids such as Rusty's little brother Rocky, Skippy, Winston, David, Chandler, Chandler's goon-friends, the various girls that Lincoln's sisters had set up with him for the dance that one time, all of the elementary school-aged Ace siblings, and roughly sixty percent of the school's entire student population weren't at school the day it was attacked. As it turned out, there was a strain of stomach flu going around, and Lucy and the twins were far from the only ones absent that day. A good thing, too; if it weren't for that strain of stomach flu that was going about, things might have turned out loads worse.

"You can go ahead and tell them that Lincoln's out of the hospital, but that they can't come by to see him right away," Lynn Sr. replied, "Although Howard and Harold may come by to see me and ask how things are going, and they may bring Clyde along with them given that he's Lincoln's closest friend." To his daughters, Lynn Sr. said, "Look, the point I'm trying to make is that I don't want anyone outside of this family to know how badly Lincoln's been hurt, alright?"

"Speaking of family, shouldn't we tell Pop-Pop about this at some point?" Luna asked as she mentioned the Loud sibling's grandfather.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Lynn Sr. replied, "Now it's time to get ready for school! Let's get going, now!" The Loud sisters gave an affirmative response before they all went about getting themselves ready for school that day.

* * *

Lynn was absent-mindedly poking at her lunch with a plastic fork later that day at Royal Woods Middle School. The sporty Loud sibling still couldn't believe what she had seen in the wee hours of the morning, still couldn't get the image of what she saw out of her head.

The image of her little brother's left leg being horrifically injured.

As she was too engrossed in poking at her lunch, Lynn failed to notice when her friends Mitzie Cornwell and Ulfric Aesir, along with her (Lynn's) older sister Luan, all sat down at the table with her. "I'm going to assume that you're as troubled as your sister here, luv," Mitzie said, "And that you are of a similar position of not wanting to talk about it."

"We have no intention of making you or Luan talk if neither of you are up to it," Ulfric said, "But that doesn't change the fact that we know the two of you are troubled, and that we want you both to know that you'll have us to lean on if need be."

Smiling somewhat, Lynn looked up from her lunch. "…Thanks, guys," Lynn replied.

"Ah, it's no trouble at all, gov," Mitzie replied, "And hey. Since your little brother's out of the hospital now, tell him that I wish him a speedy recovery, alright? He's got friends to see back at his school, after all. Heck, I'm considering dropping on to see how the little guy's doing."

"Sorry, but me and Lynn's dad said no visitors for the time being," Luan informed the British thirteen-year-old.

"I can see why," Mitzie replied in an understanding tone, "Although let me know when visitation hours are reestablished, alright?"

"I myself would also like to be kept in the know about that," Ulfric agreed with a nod. The two Loud sisters could not help but smile due to the show of support that Lynn's friends were showing. Neither Mitzie or Ulfric know Lincoln all that much, with Mitzie only having met Lincoln once and Ulfric meeting him twice. Even so, both of the foreign-born teens were expressing a desire to see Lincoln happy and healthy again.

Lynn was surprised to see that she had to put in effort to not cry.

* * *

When school let out that day, Lynn told Luan that she was planning on walking home, as she needed time to herself to think. As she walked from Royal Woods Middle School to the Loud residence, Lynn was thinking about how Lincoln's injury could impact his ability as her go-to sports buddy, but she immediately stopped herself, chastising herself for being so selfish. " _Here I go again_ ," Lynn thought ashamedly as she stopped walking and gently shook her head, " _Once again thinking about what I want_ , _about how this will affect ME_. _I seriously need to stop taking only my own wants into consideration_ , _especially since I have a little brother who needs me now more than ever_."

Looking up from the sidewalk and to her left, Lynn noticed that she stopped off at a local diner in the town. The burgers they serve here are almost as good as meatball grinders, which are at this point a staple in the sporty Loud sibling's diet. She had enough on-hand cash to grab a quick bite to eat (having not eaten any of her lunch earlier due to conflicting feelings, Lynn was rather hungry), so Lynn strolled into the diner.

When she entered, she immediately noticed that, aside from her, there were only three other parties of customers in the diner at the time. The first was an older teenage couple sitting at a booth; the boy of the pair was tall and somewhat slim while the girl was about half a foot shorter and had to weigh an easy three-hundred and twenty-plus pounds. The second party consisted of just one man who had to be in his early thirties and wearing a construction work uniform; this man was eating at the counter. The third party, similar to the second, consisted of a lone man, except that this one was wearing a sleeveless duster coat and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt, sitting alone at a booth.

Lynn went up to the counter, got the attention of one of the cooks, placed and order, then proceeded to walk to her usual spot in this place, a booth located a few spaces behind the booth where the man in the duster coat sat. Although her mind was focused on the well-cooked beef wonder that would soon go into her mouth, Lynn still had enough of her peripheral focus out to notice that the man in the duster coat had a number of photos of people spread out across the top of the table he sat at.

Lynn noticed that one of the pictures that the man had was of Lincoln.

"What is the connection here?" the man said quietly to himself, "What do all of these-"

"Why do you have a picture of my brother?" Lynn said, catching the man by mild surprise and getting him to look up at her. Pointing to the picture of Lincoln that the man had, Lynn said, "That's Lincoln Loud. He's my little brother. Why do you have a picture of him?"

"He's your brother? Seriously?" the man asked, shooting the sporty Loud a mildly surprised look. Lynn nodded in the affirmative before seeing what other photos the man had. It was a mix of various kids who attended Royal Woods Elementary School. Lynn knew this because she recognized most of them from when she accompanied her mom and Lincoln to an open house event at the school early during the beginning of the current school year.

"These are all photos of kids at my brother's school," Lynn said to the man, "What are you doing with them?"

"Trying to figure out what sort of connection they all have," the man replied as he reached into a pocket and pulled something out. Showing an ID card and some sort of law enforcement badge to Lynn, the man said, "I'm a private investigator that's been hired to figure out who was responsible for the Royal Woods Elementary School bombing about a month ago." Putting the card and badge away, the man continued, "Due to the layers of red tape regular investigators on the force face due to bureaucratic and political bullcrap, the boys in blue have yet to make any sort of break in the case. That's why I was brought in."

"So, you're like a cop for hire, or something?" Lynn asked as she sat down at the booth with the man.

"…Ehh, something like that, I suppose," the man replied, "I was actually on the force myself, but my superiors didn't like the fact that I had a tendency to be rough with suspects, not to mention the fact that before I quit the force, I had the highest gun usage out of anyone."

"Why did you quit?" Lynn asked.

"I was getting sick of the bureaucracy trying to force its way into everything," the man explained, "Also, I have no doubt that if I stayed, I would have been asked to turn my badge in anyway." Leaning back somewhat, the man said, "But now I'm my own boss. I've been getting more bastards put away and quicker. Heh, if I had known that from the get-go, I would have started my own investigation deal a long time ago."

Lynn took a quick but good look at this man. He was approximately as tall and heavy as Lori, and his brown hair was between Lori's and Leni's in terms of length; the hair fell down the man's back in a ponytail save for bangs that framed his face. The man's somewhat dark skin clearly denoted a mixed-race heritage, most likely a combination of Hispanic, African American and Native American. The man's eyes were as blue as the uniform he used to wear when he was a boy in blue.

Tapping the photo of Lincoln that he had, the man said to Lynn, "Since you said that Lincoln Loud here is your little brother, I assume that you got the same last name as well?"

Nodding in the affirmative, Lynn replied, "Yeah. My name's Lynn."

"Curtis Black," the man said as he offered his own name, "So tell me, Lynn. Do you have any clue as to who was responsible for the bombing and why?"

Shaking her head gently in the negative, Lynn answered, "I have no clue. All I know about the bombing is that because of it, my little brother's left leg was very, _very_ badly injured." Barely able to keep herself from crying as she recalled the horrific memory of seeing her little brother's severely injured leg, Lynn continued, "Thank goodness Lincoln's still alive, though."

Lynn and Curtis's conversation was interrupted when a waitress brought Lynn her order. While Lynn ate, Curtis went a bit more into why he was investigating the bombing; one of the parties who had hired him are the very wealthy parents of one of the kids who was killed in the attack close to a month back. Curtis said that the children who were injured and or slain are the primary reason why he took the case; although it was infinitely more extreme than wedgies or swirlies, the bombing was similar in the fact that it was just another form of bullying, and Curtis said that there was nothing he hated more than bullies.

Something that the sporty Loud sibling agreed with.

When Lynn finished her meal, Curtis took out a business card and handed it to her. "If you think of something, or you discover something you think may relate to the bombing, give me a call," Curtis said, "It's not just the dead children I'm interested in getting justice for, but the injured living as well. That includes your little brother, Lynn."

Giving the private detective a nod of acknowledgement, Lynn said, "Thanks." After leaving a small tip for the meal she got, Lynn took her leave from the diner.

* * *

The following afternoon, Lynn was once again walking home from school, still needing as much outside time as possible to clear her head. If it wasn't for the fact that Royal Woods has an obscenely low crime rate (bombings notwithstanding), Lynn's wandering around the town might have been considered recklessly dangerous. Lynn's mind kept creeping back to that image of her little brother, crying to himself softly in the wee hours of the morning as he sat on the sofa in the living room, his left leg horrifically injured.

A haunting image that would never leave Lynn's mind for as long as she lived.

As Lynn walked, she accidentally bumped into a grown man who was on his cell phone, due to not looking where she was walking. "Hey!" the grown man exclaimed, "Watch where you're going, you little twat!"

"Oh, sorry!" Lynn apologized quickly as she hurried off. A few steps later, Lynn noticed that her shoe laces on her right shoe came undone, so she bent down to tie them. While the sporty Loud ties her shoes, she heard the man she had bumped into continue to talk on his phone.

"Hey, sorry about that," the man said into his phone, "I just bumped into some little kid who wasn't watching where the hell she was going. So anyway, is the next bomb ready yet?"

Lynn froze in place, her eyes widening with shock. The man she had just bumped into was talking on the phone about a bomb. Quickly finishing tying her shoes, Lynn got up, turned her head just enough to get a look of the man she had bumped into. About as tall as her dad but looked to weigh about as much as her sister Leni, the man had long brown hair that seemed almost reddish in color and fair skin that seemed almost sickly. He wore a gray t-shirt under a white men's tank top, baggy jeans, and brown shoes.

The man was too engrossed in his phone call (he was most likely just as much to blame for bumping into Lynn as Lynn was bumping into him), so he failed to notice that Lynn was discretely following him; it also helped Lynn that she picked up a trick or two from Lucy when it came to not being noticed. After she followed the man for approximately an hour, Lynn watched as he walked into an old one-story house with faded light blue paint; the house as a whole was in a somewhat worse shape than her own family's house.

Lynn looked around the area she was in for house numbers and street signs, hoping to figure out the house's approximate address; having found an appropriate street sign, Lynn took out a pad of paper, wrote down the street sign and the four-digit number painted on the curb outside of the house she had seen the man walk into, then got the hell out of dodge. Thankfully, Lynn managed to find her way to the local Burpin' Burger.

Sitting down at one of the tables inside, Lynn pulled out her cell phone, the pad of paper she used back out, and her wallet. Removing a business card from the wallet, Lynn looked at it as she dialed up the number. Even if this wasn't related to the attack on Royal Woods Elementary School, Lynn figured that it was worth bringing it to the attention of a certain someone whose methods of law enforcement appealed to her.

"…Curtis?" Lynn said into her phone, "It's me, Lynn. The girl you talked to at the diner yesterday? Listen, I think I found something that you may wanna know about…"

* * *

Lynn waited at the Burpin' Burger for approximately an hour before Curtis walked in. Locating the sporty Loud sibling, the cowboy cop turned private eye walked over and sat down at the same table with her. "You said that you might potentially have something," Curtis began as he sat down, "What's up?"

Sighing nervously, Lynn explained everything to Curtis. From bumping into the man that she bumped into, to overhearing the bit about the man's plan to make a bomb, to even following the man as discretely as possible until he went into a house, to which Lynn described the general appearance of along with providing the curb number and street address.

"…Okay," Curtis replied, "Although what you did was extremely dangerous since you were trailing a man talking about bombs on the phone and you're only a thirteen-year-old kid, not only would I have done the exact same thing if I was in your position, but you've managed to make more progress in roughly a few hours than the local law enforcement has managed ever since the bombing. Kudos, Lynn."

"But what if this doesn't lead to finding answers about the bombing at my brother's school?" Lynn asked, a mildly concerned look on her face.

Shaking his head gently, Curtis replied, "Still doesn't change the fact that Royal Woods may potentially face another bombing." Sighing, Curtis said, "This is too much for me to take on alone. I've got to call this in."

"Call it in?" Lynn asked.

"I may no longer be a boy in blue," Curtis explained calmly with a smile, "But that doesn't mean I no longer have any connections on the force here in Royal Woods. I've still got a few friends in the local police who I bet would love to be credited with making such an arrest." Giving Lynn a knowing look, Curtis added, "You want to come along and watch?"

"Excuse me?" Lynn replied, a confused look on the sporty Loud's face.

"You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age, kiddo," Curtis explained, "As much of a risk-taker as myself while possessing a similar sense of justice. I think that a career in law enforcement, whether you stay on the force or go down the same path as myself, may be the path for you. And there is a lot you can learn from watching the law in action as it beats the crap out of some scum." Arching an eyebrow, Curtis continued, "Unless, of course, you aren't up for it."

"Aren't up for it?" Lynn repeated in a confused tone that sounded just a bit offended in a sarcastic manner, "Yeah, you'd have to bring a riot hose to keep me out of this." Lynn's response drew a bark of laughter out of Curtis.

"Now I'm hoping you take the same path as me," Curtis said, "I could use a partner!" Simmering down his laughter as much as he could, Curtis took out his cell phone to make a call.

…

The entirety of the dilapidated one-story house was surrounded by police cars about forty-five minutes later. Fully outfitted officers, wearing assault vests and carrying riot shields, came in from the back after one of them broke the back-sliding glass door in. The man that Lynn had trailed was startled awake, and before he could walk out of his bedroom, the bedroom door was busted down as four of the fully outfitted officers stormed in, shouting at the man to get down on his knees.

After the man was dragged outside, CSI units came in and swept the place. As was suspected, various material related to bomb-making was discovered, mostly in the man's bedroom. There were schematics, information on a flash drive that was bagged for evidence alongside the man's laptop computer, the man's cell phone which listed all of his contacts, and a notepad that had some hand-written details outlining an idea for a plot to bomb the local sewage treatment plant. The local sewage treatment plant was alerted, and appropriate measures were taken to ensure safety.

As police set up a barricade to keep the slowly but surely gathering crowd of on-lookers from getting too close, Curtis found Lynn standing by a police cruiser with a female cop of notably high rank. "I see you met my partner on this case, Dawn," Curtis said to the female cop.

"I see a lot in her what I saw in you, Curtis," the female cop, apparently named Dawn, replied with a nod. Aside from Dawn having fair skin, light brown hair, wearing a white sleeveless shirt rather than a long-sleeved blue shirt and having breasts, she looked pretty much the same as Curtis, even possessing a similar sleeveless duster coat. "From what the lab boys from the CSI unit have gathered, the schematics that the guy we caught here had were similar to the devices that were used in the attack on Royal Woods Elementary," Dawn said, "There's no knowing for certain without a confession, but I think that we just got one of the guys responsible for the attack that killed over twenty kids."

"Well alright!" Curtis exclaimed in an amused manner as he clapped his hands together, "About damn time some progress in that case was made!"

Cracking a grin, Dawn said, "You know, Curtis, if you had gotten into my department, you might still be on the force."

"Yeah, that's true," Curtis agreed with a nod, "I'd still be on the force to this day if I worked for you in your department." Gesturing to everything that was around them, Curtis continued, "But then again, how likely would it be if, were I still on the force, all of this would have happened?"

"Heh," Dawn replied with a calm smile, "You got me there."

"Excuse me, officer," Lynn said as she got Dawn's attention, "But you said that the guy you just arrested is responsible for the attack on Royal Woods Elementary School, right?"

"Technically, we don't know for certain, young lady," Dawn replied, "But the evidence that's been recovered so far all points to that being the case."

"Oh yeah, Dawn," Curtis said while pointing to Lynn, "This girl here, Lynn, is actually the older sister of one of the kids that was caught up in the attack. It's thanks to Lynn that we were able to make the break in this case that we've made."

"You know, young lady," Dawn said when she turned to face the sporty Loud sibling, "If this does in fact turn out to be related to the bombing at your younger sibling's school, then Curtis here will be able to collect on a rather hefty reward." Turning her attention to Curtis, Dawn said, "You'll be sharing with the kid, right?"

"I was figuring on a fifty-fifty split," Curtis replied, "Why do you ask?"

"Damn, Curtis, that's generous of you, given how big the reward is," Dawn replied, "That much for a…" Stopping short, Dawn turned to face Lynn before saying, "How old are you, kid?"

"Thirteen," the sporty Loud replied.

Turning to face Curtis, Dawn continued, "That much for a thirteen-year-old? This will be something you'll have to go over with her family, Curtis."

"Assuming that this _is_ related to the attack on Royal Woods Elementary," Curtis replied, "Although I'm itching to see the bastards responsible for killing over twenty people thrown behind bars for good, especially since most of the victims were children!" With a gentle shake of his head, Curtis said, "So yeah. I'm hoping like hell this is related."

Giving a good-natured laugh to Curtis's response, Dawn then turned her attention to Lynn. "I ought to be taking you home now, Lynn," Dawn said, "I bet your parents will be wanting to know about this."

"My mom will have to be filled in on this when she and my baby sister gets back from California," Lynn replied, "The airlines are being really dumb. My dad should still be at home, though, so you can talk to him."

"Oh yeah, the airline issue over in California," Dawn remarked with a gentle shake of her head, "I remember hearing about that on the news." Smiling in mild amusement, Dawn continued, "Well at least I got one parent of yours to inform that you're responsible for foiling a potential bombing. I bet he'll have words of praise for you, after giving you a slight scolding for risking yourself unnecessarily." Lynn could only smile in response, along with giving a chuckle.

* * *

Lynn Sr. was, as expected, shocked that a police officer had escorted Junior home. But Dawn informed the Loud patriarch that Lynn wasn't in any trouble; it was actually quite the opposite, really. Dawn had told Lynn Sr. everything, and was about to mention the possibility of Lynn receiving a share of reward money when Luna came running up to her dad.

"Hey pops, there's this breaking news report on the TV," the musical Loud sibling said, "They're saying that one of the guys responsible for the attack on Lincoln's school has been arrested!" Mildly shocked, Lynn Sr., Lynn and even Dawn ran over to see the news broadcast. Luna was right; the news was talking about the recent arrest of the man that Lynn had trailed, and that the man had confessed that he and two associates were responsible for the attack on Royal Woods Elementary School. One of the associates had been found and brought in, but the other was still at large. The news went on to credit the RWPD, a private investigator, and an anonymous person for having found the man.

Smiling, Dawn said, "I figured as much." Turning to Lynn Sr., Dawn said, "Yeah, that there happened because of your daughter, Mr. Loud. She helped scored a big win for justice today."

"Wait until your mother hears about this, Junior," Lynn Sr. said to Lynn, "Won't she be impressed!"

"Oh, and I should probably mention that since your daughter played a big role in the efforts that led to this arrest," Dawn continued, "She can expect to receive a share of the reward that's been offered for information leading to an arrest in this case."

"A share of a reward, officer?" Lynn Sr. repeated in a slightly confused tone, "How big are we talking here?"

* * *

Five-hundred-thousand dollars. For her efforts which led to the arrest of two of the three men responsible for the attack on Royal Woods Elementary School, Lynn Loud Jr. got five-hundred-thousand dollars. Knowing how money works in the Loud family, Lynn Sr. wisely decided to tell his children that Lynn Jr. had only received ten-thousand dollars. The idea for stating that sum was thought up by Lynn Jr. herself; she agreed all too well with her dad, and had already decided that keeping how much she had actually received a secret was a good idea.

Lynn's sisters Lori and Lola both expressed shock that Lynn had gotten ten-thousand dollars, but other than that, none of the siblings made any mention of the money. Despite how money was viewed in the Loud family, the fact that Lynn had potentially put herself in extreme danger was of far greater concern.

Lincoln was especially worried, as he feared that Lynn could have gotten killed given that she had trailed a man that was talking about making bombs on the phone. After the meeting Lynn Sr. had with his kids where he told them that Lynn Jr. received ten grand, Lincoln went up to his sporty older sister and gently threw his arms around her, drawing her into a hug. "Please don't do anything so reckless ever again," Lincoln said quietly as he hugged his older sister, "You aren't the only one afraid of potentially losing a sibling, you know."

Smiling gently, Lynn returned her brother's hug. "Sorry about giving you a scare, little bro," Lynn apologized, "I'll try not to let it happen ever again."

"Aww," Leni said as she gushed at the adorable sight of two of her siblings hugging each other, "This is, like, totes sweet. Group hug!" Leni then threw her arms around Lynn and Lincoln. This was followed by Luna doing the same, and that was followed by Lucy, the twins, Lisa, Luan, and finally Lori. The Loud siblings stayed like that for about a minute before Lynn Sr. broke it up.

"I'm sorry to have to break this all up, but I've got dinner to cook," Lynn Sr. replied, "And with the slight bump in the budget thanks to Junior, I can try one of the recipes in the cookbook that I borrowed from Maria Santiago but forgot to return to her before she and her kids moved to the next state over."

"You forgot to return a cookbook to Bobby's mom?!" Lori exclaimed at her dad.

* * *

The next morning, all of the Loud kids were at home; all schools in the district had the day off due to a teacher protest, so the Loud siblings were planning to make the most of their day off. Luna, Lincoln and the twins were sitting on the sofa, watching some news report that Luna insisted on because it involved Mick Swagger, when the front door opened, revealing that Lynn had just returned from somewhere.

"Where you been, sis?" Luna asked as she turned her head to look over to where Lynn was standing.

"Ehh, I decided to swing by Burpin' Burger to grab something," Lynn answered.

"Burpin' Burger this early?" Luna asked with a confused look on her face, "I know they're good, but this is kind of out of the blue."

"I actually went to pick up something that Lincoln told me about," Lynn replied as she held up a bag of take-out from the popular local joint. Gently tossing the bag onto Lincoln's lap, the sporty Loud said, "It's that burger you mentioned. After everything that's happened, I figured that you deserved a little something."

"Wow, thanks, Lynn," Lincoln said. Getting up off of the sofa, Lincoln continued, "I should probably eat this in the dining room. You know how messy eating burgers from Burpin' Burger can be, and I know mom wouldn't like it if there were stains on the sofa."

"That's fair," Lynn agreed as she watched Lincoln make his way to the dining room. A few minutes later, Lynn walked into the dining room to check in on Lincoln. He was drinking from a rather large glass of water while sitting at the table; the obscene number of napkins from the burger joint Lynn just returned from, all of which were used, were a clear indication that meals from Burpin' Burger were as messy as they were delicious.

"So, how was it?" Lynn asked as she sat in the chair opposite of her little brother.

"Better than I imagined, Lynn," replied the sole Loud boy, "Thanks again, Lynn."

"No problem," Lynn said, "And hey, if that burger was as good as you say, then maybe I should try one myself at some point."

"Well I certainly won't stop you," Lincoln remarked with a chuckle, prompting the sporty Loud sibling to chuckle as well.

After her chuckling simmered down, Lynn reached into a back pocket on her shorts, pulled out her wallet, removed a one-hundred-dollar bill, and offered it to Lincoln. "Here you go, little bro," Lynn said, "Get yourself something nice."

His eyes widening at the sight of the bill of large denomination, Lincoln said, "That's…that's a lot of money, Lynn."

"Well I got a lot for what I did," Lynn replied. Still seeing the unsure look on her little brother's face, Lynn said, "Lincoln, seriously. After everything you've gone through, and everything before that…you deserve a break."

"…Well," Lincoln said as he hesitantly accepted the money, "There is this new video game that I've been itching to get."

As Lincoln slipped the money into a front pocket on his pants, Lynn said, "There we go, you already have an idea for-"

"Yo, dudes!" Luna interrupted as she ran into the dining room, "Did you hear about those two guys that Lynn got arrested yesterday?! The news just said that both of them have been killed in prison!"

"What?!" Lynn and Lincoln exclaimed in unison, both Loud siblings clearly shocked.

Nodding a bit in the affirmative, Luna continued, "Apparently, word got around that they were responsible for killing a lot of kids and injuring a whole lot more. The other inmates apparently didn't like that, so they decided to take things into their own hands. The ones responsible for killing those two guys were moved to different blocks, for the safety of other prisoners."

"I guess that means that even criminals have standards," Lynn remarked as she got up to head over to the fridge to get a can of soda. Popping the soda open, Lynn walked back to where she was sitting to sit back down. Drinking her soda, Lynn reflected upon everything that occurred recently. About how some of the families living in Royal Woods were irrevocably scarred, and how some other families who weren't scarred that badly, such as hers, will still take quite some time to fully recover.

But justice, which is as good of a salve as any, was served.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER THREE

Author's Notes:

Well that brings Lynn's time in the spotlight to an end. I apologize if the resolution was a bit rushed, but I didn't want Lynn to be the focus for too long. Each Loud sister will get their own time in the spotlight, although the twins will be sharing a spot. Anywho, the next chapter, which will focus on another Loud sister, will _literally_ be interesting.

Next time: First Born


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter four: First Born part one- An older sister's prerogative

Lori Loud was laying on her bed in her and her sister Leni's room at the Loud family residence one day in Royal Woods, Michigan. The oldest Loud sibling was doing what one would normally expect the phone-addicted teenager to do; fiddle around on her smartphone. Lori was in the middle of a call with Bobby Santiago, Lori's boyfriend who, with his sister and mother, had moved to the next state over. Although they're far apart, Lori and Bobby are still very much dedicated to each other, and maintain a healthy long-distance relationship.

"OMG, Bobby," Lori said into her phone, "The airlines in California are being literally brainless. My mom and Lily still haven't been able to get back yet! At this point, my mom should literally consider driving cross-country."

"How about a train ride, babe?" Bobby suggested over the phone, "Since there are no more bandits that rob trains, your mom and baby sister will be totally safe."

"Maybe," Lori replied, silently giggling at the bit of childish humor that Bobby showed by the mentioning of train-robbing bandits.

"Hey babe," Bobby said in a somewhat serious tone, "How's Lincoln doing? We heard about what happened over in Royal Woods, and we'd really like to know if your brother's okay. Ronnie Anne especially wants to know how the bro's doing."

Lori took a second to consider things; in recent events, there was an attack on the school that her little brother Lincoln went to, Royal Woods Elementary. Lori was beyond relieved when she and the rest of her sisters were told by their dad that, although Lincoln was hurt in the attack, he was able to live.

However, the girls soon discovered, to their horror, that the sole Loud boy didn't emerge in one piece. Lincoln, in addition to a slight scar on the side of his head, had his left leg horrifically bruised and scarred; although Lincoln could still walk on it, his left leg was _far_ from fully healed. Lynn Sr., the father of the Loud siblings, was unsure about how he would go about informing the rest of the kids about this development, but Lynn Jr., one of Lori's younger sisters, discovered what happened by accident and screamed in a horrified way loud enough to alert everyone else. And that is how the Loud sisters were made aware of their brother's injury.

"Lincoln…was hurt in the bombing, yes," Lori said over the phone, "But's he's doing better now. Lincoln's the same little brother that I've always known ever since he was born." " _Thank goodness for that_ ," Lori added in her mind as she sighed to steady herself.

"Well that's a relief," Bobby remarked as he could be heard sighing, "I'd hate for the bro to have gotten killed. Ronnie Anne would have been totally devastated if that happened."

Chuckling in good humor, Lori replied, "Tell you what, Boo-Boo Bear. I'll get Lincoln to set up for a video chat with Ronnie Anne. I bet that they both have a lot to catch up with each other on. What do you think?"

"I bet that Ronnie Anne will love that, babe," Bobby replied, "When will be a good time?"

"Well my dad took Lincoln with him to take care of some shopping," Lori explained, "So I'll give you a call when Lincoln's ready, alright?"

"Sounds great," Bobby replied, "Thanks again. I'm glad to hear that Lincoln is alright. Catch you later!" With that, the call ended. Setting her smartphone on her nightstand, Lori laid on her bed and sighed; the recent events of the past month have been very tiring for her. Not only was her little brother caught up in an attack on his school that left him severely hurt, but one of her little sisters, the aforementioned Lynn, managed to lead officers and a private investigator into arresting two of the three men responsible for said attack. Emotionally speaking, Lori was pretty much drained, as were her sisters and their father.

Lori could only imagine how Lincoln's doing.

Right now, making sure that Lincoln is safe, as well as helping him since his left leg is still trying to heal, is the top priority of the rest of the Loud clan. As far as Lori knew, only her siblings and dad were the only members of the Loud family that knew of Lincoln's severe injury; Rita, the Loud family matriarch, hadn't been informed yet, as Lynn Sr. said that he would take care of that. Lily, the baby of the family, was with Rita in California, thus she didn't know either. Lily probably wouldn't know anyway, given she's a baby. And Albert, AKA Pop-Pop, who is the Loud siblings' grandfather, wasn't aware of how badly his only grandson was hurt.

As the oldest Loud sibling sat up on her bed, she heard the front door of the house open up downstairs. "Girls, we're home!" Lynn Sr.'s familiar voice called out, "Come down here! Lincoln's got something for you!" Confused by the fact that Lincoln potentially has something for his sisters, Lori got up and left her and Leni's room, then descended the stairs to see what was up.

* * *

In the living room, Lori sat with all of her sisters with the exception of Lily, who was still in California with their mom. Standing in front of the girls was their brother Lincoln. "What's up, little dude?" Luna asked.

Sighing in a tone that only comes from recalling bad past memories, Lincoln began, "As you girls know, the past few weeks haven't been all that kind to me. However, after I got back from the hospital, you girls have all done everything you could to try and help me while my injury is still healing." Shaking his head, Lincoln said, "The point is that you all have done a lot for me, more than what I ever could have imagined or expected. I just wanted to say thanks."

"There's no need to thank us, Lincoln," Lucy replied in her usual monotone, "Regardless of what occurred, you're still our brother, and we love you."

Smiling, Lincoln said, "Thanks, Lucy." Picking up three plastic bags that sat on the floor at his feet, Lincoln continued, "Anyway, I've been wanting to do something nice for you girls as a proper way to thank you all for all of the support you've shown me ever since I got home from the hospital. So, while I was out with dad, I decided to swing by one of the aisles to get these." Lincoln then sat the three plastic bags on the coffee table in front of the sofa where the three oldest sisters sat. The three bags spilled over a bit when they were placed on the coffee table, revealing a number of XL-sized chocolate bars. The sight of that most glorious confection left the Loud sisters wide-eyed with shock.

Holding up a game case containing a new video game, Lincoln said in a mildly unsure tone due to seeing the look on his sisters' faces, "Umm, yeah. Anywho, I got a new video game to play, so if any of you need me, I'll be in my room." As quickly as he could manage, the sole Loud boy made his way out of the living room and up the stairs, knowing full well that he had to get out of there because it's a bad idea to between the Loud girls and chocolate.

…

A couple of chocolate bars in her stomach did wonders for the oldest Loud sibling. Lori was now feeling a lot more relaxed; it would take nothing less than someone breaking her smartphone while they were in her room (being in her room is forbidden) for Lori to feel any anger at the moment. And it was all thanks to Lincoln, her little brother, her only brother.

Who she could have potentially lost.

Lori suddenly sat up, the daunting realization of what could have happened having crept its way back into her mind, into her heart. The oldest Loud sibling decided that she would head up to see how the sole Loud boy was doing, with the excuse that she wanted to thank him for the chocolate, along with telling him that Ronnie Anne was interested in video chatting with him. Lori made a turn for the staircase before she proceeded to walk up.

When she got close to the top of the stairs, she heard someone knocking on a door on her left, so out of curiosity, Lori turned in that direction instead of in the direction of Lincoln's room. As it turned out, Lori turning left was a good call, as the person that she was looking for was standing outside of her room. Mildly confused, Lori called out, "Lincoln?"

"AHHH!" Lincoln cried out in alarm as he cowered with his arms covering his head.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down there," Lori said as she walked over to her little brother, "I just wanted to know why you're standing here."

"Luan wanted her yellow nail polish back that Leni borrowed the last time she had some friends over, but Leni still has it in her and your room, so Luan asked me to go get it," Lincoln explained as he continued to cower, "I wasn't going to go into your room Lori, I swear! Please don't hurt me!" Seeing her little brother cowering like this pained Lori's heart. To show Lincoln that he had no reason to fear her, Lori knelt down and gently hugged him.

"Lincoln, Lincoln, relax," Lori said in as calm and kind of a tone as she had ever used, "There's no need to be scared." Breaking out of the hug, Lori faced her younger brother and said, "Why would Luan ask you to get her nail polish back for her, though? Sorry, but I'm just curious."

"Luan said that she was afraid that you'd turn her into a human pretzel if you caught her trying to get her nail polish back herself," Lincoln explained as his cowering simmered down somewhat. Once again, Lori felt heartbreak over how scared her little brother was, and for good reason too. Lori herself was as much to blame for Lincoln being afraid as anything else.

Lori has something of a reputation among her siblings of being extremely hardline; threats of being turned into human pretzels were commonly issued by the oldest Loud sibling, and anyone Lori caught in her room would be thrown out by Lori herself, even if Leni, who shared the room with Lori and thus had just as much say as she did, invited said person into the room.

The last time Lori tossed out a sibling that was with Leni because the fashionable Loud sibling had invited said sibling in, it was Lincoln. That actually happened the day before… _that day_.

Sighing, Lori said, "Lincoln, I'm sorry." Confused, the sole Loud boy looked up at his older sister.

"You're sorry?" Lincoln said in a confused tone, "Why are you sorry?"

"For giving you a fright just now," Lori explained, "I mean, sure it gets on my nerves when one of you just goes on in without asking me, and I've had a…less than stellar way of expressing how I feel about that." Chuckling somewhat nervously, Lori continued, "I'm guessing you having that minor freak out just now is because you thought that I was going to turn you into a human pretzel, huh?"

"That's a threat I've heard loads of times before," Lincoln replied, "Umm, no offence."

"Ah, forget it," Lori said as she walked to her bedroom door. Turning the doorknob, Lori said in a gentle tone, "Why don't you come on in, Lincoln?" The confused look Lincoln gave her made Lori chuckle a bit, but the sole Loud boy nonetheless followed Lori into the one room of the Loud residence that was usually off limits.

Heading over to a vanity table in the bedroom, Lori said, "You said that it was Luan wanting a thing of yellow nail polish back, right?"

"Uhh, yeah," Lincoln replied.

"Well that certainly explains this," Lori said in a tone that was two parts disgusted and eight parts baffled as she held up a small bottle of nail polish that was labeled 'Smiley Face Yellow'. Handing the thing of nail polish to Lincoln, Lori said, "Neither Leni or I use this particular color, so it literally has to be the one that Luan's looking for."

"Alright," Lincoln replied as he received Luan's nail polish, "Well now that I have this, I ought to take it over to-" Lincoln stopped short when he was surprised to find himself, once again, being hugged by his oldest sibling. "Umm…Lori?" Lincoln said in a confused tone, "Why are you-"

"Thanks, Lincoln," Lori interrupted in a gentle tone.

"…For the chocolate?" Lincoln guessed, "Or because I respected your wishes concerning your and Leni's bedroom?"

"Well, both of those are accurate, yes," Lori admitted as she broke away from the hug to face Lincoln, "But overall, I'm thanking you for still being here. It would literally be the worst thing ever if I went from having nine sisters and one brother to having nine sisters and no brother." Sniffling back a bit of crying, Lori continued, "Don't go changing that, okay?"

Smiling sympathetically, Lincoln replied, "I wouldn't even dream of it, Lori."

Lori gave Lincoln another quick hug before breaking away and gently ruffling the top of his head. "Now why don't you go return that nail polish to Luan, huh?" Lori said, "Oh, and Bobby told me that Ronnie Anne wants to have a video chat with you. They heard about the attack, and they both want to see how you're doing, Ronnie Anne especially."

"Oh crud!" Lincoln nearly exclaimed, "I bet she's worried about me! Ronnie Anne might have thought I was killed or something!"

"The instant dad first told me and the rest of our sisters that you survived, I texted Bobby to tell him about it, and he undoubtedly told Ronnie Anne in return," Lori explained, "Granted, they don't yet know about how badly your leg was hurt, and I don't think you should tell them just yet, but you still owe Ronnie Anne a video chat."

"I can do it right now if she's at home," Lincoln replied.

"Let me text Bobby to let him know," Lori said as she walked over to her nightstand to retrieve her smartphone, "I bet he'll want to see you too."

* * *

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne caught up with each other over the proceeding video chat. Bobby also peeked in once or twice, the last time he peeked in being when he was dragged out of Ronnie Anne's room by his feet by the combined efforts of his cousins Carl and Carlitos. Ronnie Anne laughed as her older brother clawed at the floor in a desperate attempt to keep from being taken prisoner, screaming all the while. Ronnie Anne's laughing got Lincoln to laugh a bit as well.

Hearing the sound of her little brother laughing brought a tear of joy to Lori's eye.

After dinner that night, Lori was laying on her bed in her and Leni's room, checking things on the internet via her smartphone, while Leni was working on another dress she was making. "Hey Lori," Leni began, "Did you catch any of Linky's video chat with Bobby's little sister earlier?"

"Only enough to catch that Bobby was playing some sort of game with his cousins or whatever," Lori replied in a 'meh' kind of tone, "Other than that, I wanted to give Lincoln and Ronnie Anne as much space as possible. They both had a lot to catch up on with each other, and it would have literally been rude if either Bobby or you or me or any of our sisters had butted in."

"Linky and Ronnie Anne are totes cute together," Leni remarked, "Just like you and Bobby."

Smiling a bit more, Lori replied, "Yeah, just like me and Bobby." Scrolling through a website of some kind, Lori allowed her mind to wander back to the day where Bobby and his family moved to the next state over with their extended family. Although Lori and Bobby are maintaining their relationship via long distance, it still pained the oldest Loud sibling that her Boo-Boo Bear was literally out of cuddle distance. By extension, that meant that Ronnie Anne was out of Lincoln's cuddle distance as well.

Lori thought that it was literally unfair to Lincoln that so much crap happened to him.

* * *

Lance Harrison was many things. First off, he was what any girl would want; fair flawless skin, a handsome face, medium-long light brown hair in a somewhat scruffy but attractive look, a good six-foot-two in height, and a well-conditioned body that made him the star player of the Royal Woods High School football team. Second off, his casual outfit looked cool as well; a white long-sleeved shirt under a sports jersey, tan pants, red sneakers. Since he was a school athlete, Lance figured that he might as well look the part.

Indeed, Lance was the whole package. At least he thought as much. Due to an ego fueled by his popularity, not to mention his skills on the field, Lance thought himself entitled to date whatever girl at school he set his eyes on. Lance is one of those kinds of guys who goes through girls like a fat kid goes through cake.

And if Lance had his eyes set on a girl, then unless that girl was already dating someone, she would pretty much have to accept Lance's offer, otherwise Lance would discreetly denounce said girl as being a lesbian. The girl in question would soon be discredited across the school, and she would have no way of getting back at Lance, due to his aforementioned status affording him a cloak of protection from any sort of retribution.

Thus, Lance was pretty much able to date whatever girl he wanted, up until he got bored of said girl and tossed her to the side; it is estimated that at this point, one out of every three female students currently attending Royal Woods High School can claim to have dated Lance at one point or another. The latest 'conquest' that the star player of Royal Wood High's boys on the gridiron had his eyes on was Allison Ace, a girl who had something of a reputation herself.

"Ah, you're talking about that party at Brent's place this Friday," Allison remarked when Lance came up to her while she was in one of the hallways with her younger twin brother Aggro and their fifteen-year-old younger sister Amy, "Thank you for the invitation, but Amy and I are going with a group of friends to that party. Girls have got to stick together, after all."

"Ah, that makes sense," Lance replied, understanding that the bond of female friendship was not something he could get a girl to forget in favor of him. Oh well, Lance figured that he could very easily get another girl to go with him. The school athlete turned to walk away, leaving the three oldest Ace siblings be. When Lance was gone, Amy took out a cell phone and sent someone a quick text.

"That oaf is on the hunt for his latest conquest," Amy remarked to her older siblings, "I've got to warn the Loud sisters who attend Royal Woods High with us."

"Who are you sending the text to?" Allison asked.

"Lori," the fifteen-year-old Ace girl replied as she finished and sent the text. Looking over to Allison, Amy continued, "Out of her, Leni and Luna, Lori is the only one whose number I got, and that's only because Lori and her friends on the varsity golf team managed to recruit you."

"Yeah," Allison said, "You know, I'm still trying to figure out why-" The seventeen-year-old Ace girl was cut off when Amy's phone made a low buzzing sound as it vibrated, alerting Amy that she had received a text.

"Oh, it's from Lori," Amy said as she read the text. With a confused look on her face, Amy turned to face Aggro and asked, "Hey Aggro, Lori wants to know if you're planning on heading to Brent's party this Friday."

"Well he invited me, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go or not," Aggro replied, "Why?"

"That's what I want to know," Amy said as she wrote and sent another text to Lori. A few seconds after she sent the text, Amy received another one from Lori. "…Lori wants to know if you'd be willing to head to the party with Leni," Amy replied.

"Why Leni?" Aggro asked, arching an eyebrow in curiosity.

"You know what, I'm just going to call her," Amy replied as she proceeded to call the oldest Loud sibling. After the call went through, Amy handed her phone to her older brother and said, "Talk to her."

Receiving the phone from his younger sister, Aggro spoke into it. "Umm, hello?" the male Ace twin said in an unsure tone.

"Leni doesn't have a date or a group of friends to go with to Brent's party," Lori said on her end of the call, "So she has no excuse to tell Lance no! Please, Aggro, I literally don't want my sister to end up as just another one of Lance's flings!"

"Umm…okay," Aggro replied, his tone sounding mostly confused, "I didn't really have any plans for this Friday anyway, so this works out for the best, I suppose. I'm going to guess that your other sister that attends Royal Woods High has herself covered?"

"Luna's going to the party with Sam and a few of their friends," Lori explained.

"Well that's good, if avoiding having to go with that oaf Lance is the goal of most of the school's female student population," Aggro remarked, "Alright, Lori. I'm assuming that Leni and I will have to get together later to discuss how we're going to make this work, right?"

"It'd be nice," Lori agreed.

"Alright," the male Ace twin remarked, "Well anywho, unless there's anything else I should be made aware of, I'm handing the phone back to Amy."

"Yeah, go ahead," Lori replied, "I'm done with this call anyway." Lori ended the call on her end, so Aggro handed Amy's phone back to her.

"Apparently," Aggro said to his sisters, "I'm going with Leni to Brent's party this Friday."

"Isn't she the sister of Lori's who frequently came to watch when you tutored Lori's little brother in Kendo?" Allison asked.

"She is, yes," Aggro replied with a nod in the affirmative, "And now that you mention it, I haven't heard anything about Lincoln-kun since Lori told me he survived the attack on his school approximately a month ago. I wonder how he's doing."

"We can drill the Loud girls for answers later," Allison suggested, "I myself am curious about how the kid's doing."

* * *

Over in the RWHS library, Lori just slipped her smartphone back into her pocket. When that was done, the oldest Loud sibling sighed in relief; Lori knew full well about Lance and how he goes through girls. She also knows about how he discreetly defames girls who turn him down without a proper excuse. Lance also has a tendency to do the same to girls who he dates but tosses to the side when he gets bored with dating them.

Having been warned by Amy Ace that Lance was currently on the hunt for a date to Brent's party this Friday, Lori did a quick run-down of what her sisters Leni and Luna were doing this Friday. Luna was covered, but Leni had no such excuse. The fashionable Loud would have been forced to go with Lance or be defamed, and she would end up getting defamed anyway when the boorish athlete was bored with her. Thankfully, Lori managed to convince Amy's brother Aggro to be Leni's date to Brent's party.

Lori suddenly realized that she was going to have to make it up to Aggro big time for imposing this on him suddenly and so out of the blue. And speaking of Lori herself, she and a group of her friends were planning on heading to Brent's party together as friends. Besides, the oldest Loud sibling was still in a strong and dedicated long-distance relationship with her Boo-Boo Bear. Having all of her bases covered, Lori allowed herself to relax a bit, knowing that she and both of her sisters that attended Royal Woods High with her were safe from the sleaze-ball that was Lance Harrison.

Speaking of which…

"Well, well," a male voice that Lori was all too familiar with said, making the oldest Loud sibling turn her head to see Lance himself walk up. "What's a hot babe like you doing in a boring dump like this?" Lance asked in his best attempt to flirt with Lori.

"I was working on some homework between classes," Lori replied curtly. It was a lie, but Lance fully believed it since Lori's backpack was laying on the table that Lori sat at. "I finished an assignment, and was taking a break before I got started on the next one," Lori continued, "I figured that I can use the time to decide what I'm going to wear to Brent's party this Friday." The oldest Loud sibling, having learned ahead of time of what Lance was up to, was unsurprised by the boorish athlete's response, and already had an answer for said response.

"Speaking of Brent's party this Friday," Lance said in his best suave tone, "I was planning on heading to it myself, and was wondering if you'd be interested in coming with me."

"Sorry, but my friends on the varsity golf team and I were planning on heading to the party as a group," Lori replied, "Besides, I'm still in a long-distance relationship with Bobby. I wouldn't feel right if I went out with someone other than him."

Hugh? Who's Hugh? Lori doesn't know anyone by the name of Hugh, and she doesn't care what you think or say.

With a mildly confused look on his face, Lance said, "You're still in a relationship with that goofball?"

Mildly offended by what Lance had just said, Lori got up from where she was sitting. Pointing an accusing finger at the boorish athlete, Lori said, "I'll have you know that Roberto Alejandro Martinez Millan Luis Santiago Jr. is anything _but_ a goofball. He once worked two jobs at once just to save up enough money to buy his little sister a new video game console for her birthday. He drove my mother to the hospital when she broke her arm and my family's van was in the shop. He helped me with the first party I ever threw, sticking by my side regardless of how far south my party was going up until my siblings managed to save it and bring everyone back over." Lori got up to Lance until her face was about an inch away from his, giving the boorish athlete a glare that made him back up in mild fright. "So," Lori continued in her best warning tone, "Don't you EVER even consider thinking to insinuate that Bobby is a goofball. Got it?"

"Y-yes?" Lance replied, sounding nervous and mildly frightened.

Glaring at Lance, the oldest Loud sibling backed off. "Good," Lori replied in a much calmer tone, "I'm glad we got that settled."

"Err, umm, yes then," Lance said as he straightened himself out, "Well, I guess I'll look into asking someone else to Brent's party."

"Good luck with that," Lori replied in a neutral tone, sincerely hoping that Lance actually doesn't find a date to the party. Right when Lance was about to leave, Leni came walking over to where Lori was standing.

"Hey Lori," the fashionable Loud sibling began, "Can I, like, borrow the keys really quick? I just need to get my compact mirror out from my purse which I left in the-"

"Oh, Leni, glad I met up with you," Lori replied, "Anywho, you won't believe who wants to go with you to Brent's party this Friday!"

"Oh yeah, I'm available," Lance remarked, getting the two Loud girls' attention by jerking a thumb at his chest.

"Actually, my friend Allison told me that her brother Aggro wants to go with Leni," Lori explained to the boorish athlete.

Upon hearing who was considering asking her to the party, Leni gasped in shock, then immediately proceeded to squeal in delight so loudly that not only both Lori and Lance had to cover their ears, but a few people within the library's radius also flinched and had to cover their ears as well, AND some windows in the library actually cracked. Thankfully, none of the windows in the library actually shattered.

"I'm…going to assume that you'll accept when Aggro asks you," Lori said to her fashionable younger sibling in a dry tone.

* * *

"Damn it!" Lance exclaimed in angry annoyance after school that day; he and two of his friends, both boys who are fellow members of the school's football team, were hanging out in an alleyway behind a deli, where the two friends sat on crates as they watched the football team's star player kick a trash can over in frustration. "Why the hell can't I get a girl at school to go with me to the party?!" Lance exclaimed.

"Maybe you're too much awesome for the girls at school to handle," suggested the first of Lance's friends, a relatively skinny guy with scruffy black hair.

"Don't sweat it, dude," said Lance's second friend, a guy about twice the weight as Lance's first friend, and with scruffy blonde hair, "Since you're on the market, girls will come from all over the school just for a chance to go with you to the party."

"Every girl I asked is either going to the party with a group of friends, or already has a date," Lance pointed out in an annoyed tone, "Hell, Lori Loud is in a long-distance relationship with that goofball who moved out of Royal Woods!"

"She's _still_ dating that idiot?" Lance's first friend said in a surprised tone. Shaking his head in disbelief, Lance's first friend continued, "Wow. What does he even have?"

"I'll tell you what he has," Lance remarked as he turned to face his friend, "He's dating someone who doesn't live in the same town as him. What right does someone not living in Royal Woods anymore have to date some still living here?!"

"I agree," remarked Lance's second friend, "Why should a native have to go without while someone living somewhere else gets to enjoy benefits that are local here?"

"Maybe she has to see that you're more awesome than that goofball," said Lance's first friend.

"…What do you mean?" Lance asked, his interest piqued.

"If there's one main thing that a guy has to do to win a girl over," Lance's first friend began, "It's that he has to impress her."

"I'm already impressive in and of myself," Lance retorted.

"Some girls need more than just a pretty face, dude," Lance's first friend said, "Some girls will require you to really pull out all the stops in order to dazzle them."

"Maybe if you show that you're the toughest dude around, then she'll totally cut off that long-distance relationship with that idiotic goofball," Lance's second friend suggested, "Girls like strong guys, right?"

"Hey…" Lance began as he considered what his friends were saying, "…Hey yeah. That sounds like a good idea. But how do I show Lori how tough I am?"

"Beat someone up?" Lance's second friend suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's as good of a way as any to prove how tough I am," Lance replied, "Now I just need to figure out who to beat up."

"Can't be any of the Aces, that's for sure," Lance's first friend pointed out, "If you try to fight any of them one-on-one, they would whoop you eight ways to Sunday. Furthermore, if you try to start something with one, the other two will get involved. Remember the time that cheerleader tried to harass Amy, and what Allison did to said cheerleader in retaliation?"

"I'm surprised that the cheerleader's skirt didn't fall over when Allison picked her up and shoved her into a trash can head first," Lance remarked in a mildly amazed but mostly confused tone.

"And Allison's brother Aggro is something of a chick magnet himself, you've got to admit," Lance's first friend continued, "It may not be a good idea to start something with him, as doing so may discourage girls from wanting to go out with you in the future. Although I'm surprised that he's _finally_ decided to take a girl on a date somewhere." All of this is true; both Lance and Aggro have high reputations with the girls at Royal Woods High School, but whereas Lance has had more dates in one semester than most guys would ever have in one lifetime, Aggro has _never_ had a date, although this was by Aggro's choice. Many girls thought that this was because Aggro was just a really shy person; for some odd reason, the idea of Aggro being shy made the girls at RWHS like him even more.

"So, trying to beat up one of the Aces is a bad idea," Lance summarized, "But who would be a good idea for me to beat up?"

"Wow, I'm surprised that you survived that, man," a younger male's voice said somewhere in the distance, but close enough for Lance and his friends to hear.

"Yeah, and I'm still recovering, so I'm not quite ready to go back to school," a second younger male voice replied to the first, "I have to wait until the doctor says I'm good to go."

"We'll support you the entire way, dude," a third younger male voice, that sounded just slightly nasally, said to the second.

Looking to his two friends that were in the alleyway with him, Lance said, "I have an idea."

…

Lincoln Loud was surprised that he was able to talk his dad into letting him go outside to get some fresh air. The sole Loud boy was further surprised that he was able to convince all of his sisters to leave him be, although it helped Lincoln's case that he was with two of his friends, Clyde McBride and Rusty Spokes. "Hey man," Rusty said to Lincoln as he noticed that Lincoln seemed to be walking a little bit stiffly, "You doing okay? You look like you're walking kind of like a robot here."

"I'll…be fine, Rusty," Lincoln replied, "It's just that I've just recently got out of the hospital, so I'm not in the best shape in the world at the moment."

"Yeah, I bet that lying in a hospital bed for a long period of time left your legs feeling a little stiff," Clyde remarked, "But don't sweat it, Lincoln. This trip to the arcade we're making will really get the blood flowing!"

"Umm, yeah," Lincoln replied in a mildly unsure tone.

"Hey kids!" a somewhat older male voice called out, getting the attention of Lincoln and his friends. Looking over, the three eleven-year-old boys saw three boys in High School, with one of them waving them over. "My buds and I are trying to move something we found in the alleyway behind the deli to our car, but it's a bit heavy for us," said the High Schooler who waved the boys over, "You three mind giving us a hand? It's for a school project."

"Ehh, we got time," Rusty replied with a shrug. To Lincoln and Clyde, Rusty said, "What do you guys think?"

"Sounds cool to me," Clyde said.

"Well it's already decided at two-out-of-three, so I guess I'm in as well," Lincoln remarked.

"That's great!" said the first High Schooler, "Now if you boys will just follow us back here…" At the High Schoolers' direction, Lincoln and his friends followed them into the alleyway behind the deli.

* * *

Lori was driving along in Vanzilla, having stayed behind afterschool for a bit to go over something with her friends on the varsity golf team. In the passenger seat was Allison; Lori had agreed to give the three oldest Ace siblings a lift home, as they live close to the Loud residence. In seat immediately behind Lori was Allison's sister Amy, who was silently starring out the window. To Amy's right sat Luna, and to Luna's right sat Sam, who was coming over to the Loud's residence because she needed help with her history homework. Behind Luna and Sam were Leni and Aggro; the fashionable Loud sibling was practically bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement because the guy who asked her to the party on Friday sat next to her.

"Are you sure it's just history homework you need help with, dude?" Luna asked Sam when she turned to face her, "Because although our family's resident tutor can still cover that subject more than well enough, she admits that history is not the best subject in the world for her. She's more of a math and science kind of girl."

"Yeah, history is the only subject I need help with," Sam replied, "Why? Which sister did you say could help me again?"

"Lisa," Luna replied.

A confused look on her face, Sam said, "Wait a minute, didn't you say that your sister Lisa is only four years old?"

"And yet she surpasses the rest of us in our academic subjects," Lori remarked in a dry tone from the front seat, "Take our word for it, Sam."

"Well alright," Sam replied as she leaned back in her seat, "Wow, you girls sure have some interesting siblings."

"Oh, that reminds me," Allison remarked as she turned to face Luna, "Amy, Aggro and I are wondering how your younger brother is doing. We haven't seen hide or hair of him for quite a while."

"Yeah, I haven't heard about him for a while myself," Sam said, "Is the little dude alright?"

"Umm, about that, dudes," Luna began in a mildly uncomfortable tone, "You see, we're-"

"There's a crowd gathered outside the entrance to the alleyway next to the deli," Amy said, cutting Luna off in the process, "And an ambulance had just pulled up next to the deli."

"What do you think, like, happened?" Leni asked in a concerned tone.

"With all due respect," Lori began, "It's not like any-"

"Lincoln is being tended to by one of the paramedics," Amy interrupted, "I can tell it was him because of how he came by regularly for Kendo lessons from Aggro."

"WHAT?!" Lori exclaimed in alarm, making the first turn she could so she can go back around and drive towards the deli. When she got there, she parked Vanzilla in the only available parking spot near the deli so she and the others could get out and head over. When Lori and the others got close enough, what they saw shocked them, the Loud girls especially; Lincoln, along with two of his friends Clyde and Rusty, appeared to have been beaten badly.

Without even thinking about it, Lori, Leni and Luna all made an attempt to go to their little brother, leaving Sam and the Ace siblings waiting. However, the three Loud girls were stopped by a police officer. "Sorry girls, but we can't allow you to get close to the victims," the officer stated matter-of-factly.

Pointing to where Lincoln was laying on a stretcher, Lori said as tears began to stream down her face, "That boy is me and my sisters' little brother! Are you saying that we can't go and see if he's okay?!"

"The paramedics are currently tending to the victims while some of my fellow officers are trying to get statement from any potential witnesses," the officer explained. Shifting around a bit, the officer continued, "Are you seriously related to one of the victims?"

"Yes officer," Lori said as she was keeping from losing it; Luna was sniffling a bit herself, although Leni had begun crying. Lori took out her smartphone, opened a file, and brought up a selfie that she took with Lincoln; the oldest Loud sibling had taken at least one selfie with each of her siblings. Lori even had a selfie of herself with Lola and Lana (Lori wanted a selfie where the twins were together). Showing the selfie of herself with Lincoln to the officer, Lori said, "That's my younger brother Lincoln."

Sighing, the officer said, "I may have to get some statements from you, then, seeing as how you're related to one of the assault victims."

"ASSAULT?!" Luna exclaimed out of an even mix of shock and anger.

"Unfortunately," the officer said, "Those three boys were-" The officer was interrupted when another officer came up to get his help. "Can you girls wait here?" the officer asked the Loud girls, "I need to go talk to the police sketch artist." The two officers then took their leave, leaving Lori, Leni and Luna standing there. As the Loud girls stood there, the Ace siblings and Sam came over to check on them.

"What happened?" Aggro asked, his tone and expression clearly conveying that he was alarmed, "I heard one of you girls exclaim something about an assault."

"We were literally just told that Lincoln was assaulted," Lori said, "The same goes for his friends who we saw being treated with him."

"What manner of foul brute would do such a thing?" Allison practically exclaimed in a righteously furious tone, "Why, if I heard that something like that had been done to one of my own siblings, I would hunt down all responsible parties and send the lot of them straight to Loki's daughter!"

"Now's not the time for that, Allison," Lori said as she was continuing trying to hold it together. Exiting out of the file on her smartphone that held all the selfie pictures, Lori said as she started to make a call, "I literally have to inform my family about this right now." As the smartphone rung in Lori's ear, the oldest Loud sibling prayed that her dad was on a break over at where he worked now. The Loud family patriarch literally had to know about this, and he literally had to know about it NOW.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER FOUR

Author's notes:

Well, Lori's arc is off to a great start. Given that Lori is the oldest Loud sibling in general, she would understandably feel a certain degree of protectiveness for her siblings. Lincoln especially, given that he's the only boy. I've already settled on how to resolve Lori's time in the spotlight, so now all I have to do is fill in everything in between.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter five: First Born part two- An older sister's heart

Lori Loud prayed that a sibling of hers would never have to go to Royal Woods General for any reason other than a routine checkup, a cut that required a few stitches at most or, in the case of one of her female siblings, bringing another family member into this world. Granted, Lori had to learn to allow some leeway when it came to Lynn, as the sporty Loud had a tendency to hurt herself in her sports playing, but that was to be expected out of any dedicated athlete.

But aside from those exceptions, Lori never wanted to have to sit in the Royal Woods General waiting room as a sibling of hers was being tended to on the other side of those doors because, despite what her semi-frequent threats of turning her siblings into human pretzels may tell you, Lori sincerely cares for every last one of her younger siblings, and the idea of any of them laying in the hospital made tears well up in the corners of her eyes, made her heart ache out of worry.

Furthermore, Lori never wanted any of her siblings to have to go through that very same worry and heartache themselves. Which is why this particular visit made it near impossible for Lori not to cry; Lori's sisters Leni and Luna were with her as they waited for any news on Lincoln, their little brother, their _only_ brother, who was taken to Royal Woods General, alongside his friends Clyde McBride and Rusty Spokes, because all three boys had been physically assaulted. Lori had no idea how the McBrides and Spokes families would react upon hearing what had happened.

The three oldest Loud sisters weren't alone either; in the waiting room with them were their friends Allison, Aggro and Amy, the three oldest children of the Ace family. Also, Luna's crush Sam was also with them; the four guests were with Lori and her sisters at the time they drove by where the assault happened, so they ended up tagging along with the Loud sisters to the hospital. As all four of them were close friends, they fully intended to be there for Lori, Leni and Luna.

"This is beyond unforgivable," Allison swore in a vengeful tone under her breath, just loud enough for the others to hear her, "What would the foul brutes who did this believe the boys to have done to them to warrant such an action?"

"I literally have no clue about that," Lori said to her fellow member of the varsity golf team, "I'm not even sure if they had a reason at all." The oldest Loud sibling was struggling not to let her tears fall freely, although that task was made more difficult because Leni was crying at full force. Luna was trying her best to console her fashionable sibling, but was not having the best luck in the world, partly because Luna herself was having trouble not losing it.

As all of the teens waited in the waiting room, they were brought out of their respective minds when Lynn Loud Sr., the patriarch of the Loud family, came running into the waiting room suddenly. "I came as soon as I got Lori's call," Lynn Sr. said in a worried tone as loud as he could get away with in the hospital, "What happened to Lincoln?!"

"The…the police said that Lincoln and two of his friends were literally assaulted," Lori informed her father, having to take a breath in order to steady herself, "You should…you should expect the police to contact you at some point."

"This can't be happening," the Loud patriarch said in a shocked, disbelieving tone as he walked to a chair to sit down. Breathing a heavy sigh, Lynn Sr. said, "My son is in the hospital again, and so soon after he got out following a month long stay…" Right when Lynn Sr. started to shake his head in regret, a doctor came walking into the waiting room. The doctor was going to speak with Lori, but noticed Lynn Sr., who he talked to back during Lincoln's previous hospital visit, and went straight to him instead.

"About time you came here, Lynn," the doctor said to the Loud patriarch, "Let me just first say that I'm sorry your son is back here so soon."

"Thanks for your sympathy, but just tell me," Lynn Sr. replied, "How's Lincoln doing?"

"Your son, as well as the other two boys, didn't receive any injuries that would require a really extensive stay here," the doctor said, "I would put any stay that's required to be three days at most. It may not even be that long. In fact, I'd estimate the earliest possible release for those boys to be between sometime tomorrow morning to tomorrow afternoon. But I'm going to tell you what I'm going to tell the parents of the other two boys; an overnight stay would be in their best interest, just to stay safe."

"So, my little brother's not going to die?" Leni asked the doctor with a tear-streaked face.

"No, no," the doctor chuckled softly, "Neither Lincoln or either of his friends were injured anywhere near badly enough to put their lives in danger. Your brother and his friends will all make swift recoveries, and will hopefully not need another trip here for many years to come." Hearing this news prompted the fashionable Loud sibling to breathe a sigh of relief. And Leni was not the only relieved one; Lori, Luna, Lynn Sr., the Ace siblings and Sam were all likewise relieved that the boys would all be fine.

Lori was especially relieved that Lincoln was going to pull through no problem. Lincoln staying in the hospital is literally the absolute last thing that Lori ever wanted to have happen to him. It was something that she literally just couldn't handle.

* * *

The following day at Royal Woods High, Carol Pingrey was getting something out of her locker in one of the hallways. The homecoming queen was among the prettiest and most popular girls at Royal Woods High, rivaling Lori Loud, who once considered Carol as her rival. Yes, for a while, Lori and Carol were constantly at odds, but after some competition involving selfies, the two girls were finally able to put the animosity between them to rest, becoming friends as a result.

It was something that Carol secretly wanted for the longest time, really. It was funny that Lori was jealous of Carol, even though Carol herself was jealous of the oldest Loud sibling, due to her awesome skills on the RWHS varsity golf team and her close bond with her younger siblings. Speaking of siblings, Carol was once asked by a certain white-haired boy to pose for Lori in a family photo. Carol accepted, as she wanted to know what it was like to be a sibling.

And now that boy had been seriously hurt. This pained the homecoming queen deeply.

However, Carol didn't have the time to dwell on what had happened to that sweet young boy, as she was approached by a certain member of the Royal Wood High football team. "Hey, Carol," Lance Harrison greeted the homecoming queen in his best flirting voice, "What's up?"

"Oh, Lance," Carol said in a tone of mild surprise, "Can I help you?"

"No, but maybe I can help you," Lance replied in a cool, casual manner.

"Umm, I'm afraid that I'm not following," Carol admitted, sounding mildly confused.

"Brent's throwing a party at his place this Friday since his folks are going to be out of town at the time," Lance explained, "It's expected to be the biggest party of the year."

"Oh yeah, Brent's party," Carol replied, suddenly remembering the party that's pretty much been the talk of the school. It wouldn't have been the first party of its kind that Carol had been to, but Carol wasn't in the mood to go to the party with someone like Lance; the homecoming queen knew full well about Lance's reputation, and wanted nothing to do with him. At least Carol had a date to the party, that being a Supernatural Investigation club member named Roy King.

"I was going to offer to take you to Brent's party," Lance said to Carol, "If you'd like."

"Oh, sorry," Carol replied in a sincere apologetic tone, "Roy already asked me to be his date to the party and I said yes."

"…Oh," Lance replied in a mildly stunned tone, "You already have someone to go to the party with. That's fair, I suppose."

"I'm sure you'll find someone else, Lance," Carol offered, "It shouldn't be too hard for you. You're really popular with girls, after all."

"Yeah, yeah that's true," the star football player replied, "I guess I'll be seeing you later." With that, Lance turned around and took his leave. When Lance had left, Carol turned back around to face her locker. Removing the last of the items she wanted to take, Carol closed her locker, locked it, then proceeded to make her way to her next destination.

…

Carol was walking along one of the hallways on the second floor of the main building of Royal Woods High. She was on her way to where the girls of the varsity golf club met; Carol's had joined the varsity golf team shortly after Lori did, but there was still bad blood between the two girls at the time. Again, all of that is now water under the bridge now that Carol and Lori had become friends. Carol even heard that it was Lori who was able to convince Allison Ace to finally join. That just convinced Carol that Lori wasn't giving herself enough credit.

Deciding to put all other concerns off to the side for the time being, Carol strode towards the classroom where the varsity golf girls usually met. As she walked, Carol passed the entrance to a stairwell that would take someone to the first floor of the school's main building. When the homecoming queen passed that stairwell, she heard a familiar voice come from it saying, "I _still_ can't believe I don't have a date to the party yet!"

" _That_ ' _s Lance_ ' _s voice_ ," Carol thought as she caught the voice. Carol was about to continue walking on by, but something a voice that was with Lance's said made the homecoming queen take pause.

"I can't believe that our idea to beat up those three little bastards didn't work," said a voice that Carol recognized as that of one of the two boys that frequently hang out with Lance. Carol saw that she was standing next to a waist-high wall that overlooked part of the stairwell, so she knelt down next to this wall so that anyone in the stairwell who looked up would not be able to see her; Carol would still be able to listen in on the conversation, though. To keep from looking too out of place, Carol proceeded to pretend to be tying her shoelaces.

"A good thing no one knows that it was us who did it," said a second voice, which Carol recognized as that of the other boy who frequently hangs out with Lance, "Instead of being praised as tough, we would have been hounded by everyone if word got out that it was us who pounded those kids."

"It's your fault, man," Lance's voice said in an accusing tone to the second voice, "What the hell were you thinking, suggesting that we beat up three kids from the elementary school so that girls would think I'm tough?"

"Hey, I did not say that we should have beaten up those three kids, Lance," the second voice pointed out, "All I suggested is that we beat someone up. Deciding to beat up those little bastards was all your doing." Carol went wide-eyed with shock as she eavesdropped on the conversation between the three boys on the Royal Woods High football team.

The sweet white-haired boy that Carol was thinking about earlier, who attended Royal Woods Elementary, was recovering after having been assaulted, along with two other boys from the same school. And Lance and his two friends were talking about having beaten up 'three little bastards' and worried about someone finding out that they were the ones responsible. The homecoming queen could not believe what she had just heard.

It was them, Lance and his two friends. They were the reason why that sweet white-haired boy was recovering in the hospital.

Carol wanted to inform the proper authorities right away that it was Lance and his two friends who had assaulted three elementary school-age boys, especially since they were still technically at large. However, the homecoming queen lacked tangible evidence to prove her case. Carol wished that she had that handheld tape recorder of Roy's that she was fiddling around with when she visited him at the Supernatural Investigation club (there was a lot of cool stuff there).

Even so, Carol had just learned some invaluable information, and she needed to get it to someone who she knew full well would want to hear about it.

* * *

In the classroom where the girls of the varsity golf team met, they were going over the last game they played against a rival school, as well as an important upcoming game. "Okay girls," said one of the varsity golf team members, an African American girl who was chubby but in a cute way, "We all did a fantastic job winning the last game, especially our captain Lori and newest member Allison!" The other girls in the club turned to face Lori and Allison so that they could applaud the two girls.

"Thanks, girls," Lori replied in a sincere yet notably troubled tone, "But it was mostly Allison's doing, if you ask me. She literally scored nothing but holes in one in the last game!"

"That's because the Allfather has apparently chosen me as his champion in this sport," Allison said, "Thus he gave me his blessings." Dismissing what Allison was saying about the gods, the African American girl noticed the concerned look on Lori's face, the troubled part of her tone.

"Hey Lori, are you okay?" asked the African American girl in a concerned tone.

Sighing in a resigned tone, Lori said, "You girls remember when I mentioned that my little brother Lincoln had to stay in the hospital for a while?" After seeing some of her fellow team members nod in the affirmative while wearing concerned looks, Lori continued, "Well he literally had to be taken to the hospital again yesterday evening. He and two of his friends from school were assaulted."

"Wait, I heard about three boys from the elementary school having been taken to the hospital due to being beaten up," said one of the girls, a slim fair-skinned girl with reddish-orange frizzy hair, freckles and wore a pair of nerdy-looking glasses. Shaking her head slowly out of worry, the girl said, "One of them was your little brother?"

"It's true," Lori admitted sadly, "Although I literally wish-" The oldest Loud sibling was cut off when the door of the classroom that the varsity golf girls were meeting in was practically thrown open, revealing Carol Pingrey standing there.

"Carol?!" Lori said in a surprised tone as she regarded the girl who she now considered as a close friend, "What's up? You look like you've just seen a ghost or some-"

"I know who it was," Carol blurted out, interrupting the oldest Loud sibling in the process.

"…Know who now?" the African American girl asked, a confused look on her face.

"The guys who beat up those three boys from the elementary school," Carol said as she clarified what she was talking about, "I know who those guys are."

"What?!" Lori exclaimed in surprise, and not one second later she was out of her seat and going right up to Carol. "How do you know?!" Lori practically demanded, "Tell me everything, Carol!"

…

The homecoming queen took the time to explain how she came by the information, sparring no details whatsoever. Carol said how she overheard the three boys on the football team discussing how they had beaten up a few kids from the elementary school, how they were worried about people finding out what they had done, and how Carol was able to connect the dots. "The sad thing is that without tangible evidence," Carol finished, "There's no way we can actually prove it was those jerks who were responsible."

"I…I can't believe it," Lori said as she shook her head in disbelief, "That bastard Lance and two of his idiot friends are the reason why Lincoln had to go to the hospital." After a few seconds of nothing, Lori suddenly turned around, grabbed one of the small student desks by the back of the seat and edge of the desk surface, and lifted it up over her head while screaming with a primal rage, a display that alarmed most of her fellow team members.

"Easy there, Lori," Allison said as she grabbed the legs of the desk Lori was holding and proceeded to drag it back down to the floor of the classroom, "I understand full well that you are spurred by the injustice that was done to your little brother, but you must stay calm." After the desk was back on the floor of the classroom, Allison continued while pointing to Carol, "Besides, her highness here said that we lack tangible evidence to prove what those boorish trolls have done. We need to work on gathering some evidence to prove that they are responsible."

"You're…you're right," Lori said as she started to simmer down. Breathing hard to steady herself, the oldest Loud sibling continued, "We need to get something to prove that Lance and his idiots were the ones who put Lincoln and his friends in the hospital."

"But what can we do, though?" Carol asked, "I mean, if I had that handheld tape recorder of Roy's that I was fiddling around with when I visited him at the Supernatural Investigation club, I would have recorded some of the conversation between Lance and his friends, and that would have certainly been a really huge help."

"Yeah, there's not a lot of kinds of evidence to prove someone guilty that's more effective than a recorded confession," the slim girl with reddish-orange hair remarked with a nod.

"My sister Lisa owns a handheld tape recorder that she uses to record vocal records of herself during her lab experiments," Lori pointed out to her friends, "I can probably borrow that from her, then turn it on and leave it in my purse while I talk to Lance, slowly getting him into fessing up that it was him."

"Yeah, but just how exactly are you going to get Lance to confess, much less approach him without making it look suspicious?" asked the African American girl, "I mean, doing this would seem pretty much out of the blue. It might set off a few alarms in that…umm…" Turning to face Allison, the African American girl asked, "What did you call Lance and his friends, Allison? I thought it was a pretty good insult, so I wanted to use it."

"I called the lot of them boorish trolls," replied the female Ace twin as she put her hands on her hips, "Because that is what they are."

"Hey, I won't argue with that," Carol remarked.

"Yeah," the African American girl said. Turning to face Lori, the African American girl continued, "But like I was saying. You don't want to set off any alarms in that boorish troll's head, do you?"

"I literally don't want Lance to get away with what he and his idiots did to Lincoln," Lori replied, "So I'll have to think of something."

* * *

After she and the rest of the students of Royal Woods High got out of school for the day, Lori decided to walk home; her dad was currently using Vanzilla, so Lori and her siblings would have to get home on their own. Luckily for Lori, Leni was heading home with the Ace siblings (they live close by), and Luna was staying behind a bit longer for music practice with her friends. This allowed the oldest Loud sibling to leave the school alone.

Lori wanted the time to herself anyway, as she still needed to think of a way to approach Lance and slowly work a confession out of him without arousing any suspicion. The oldest Loud sibling had thought up two ideas so far, both of which involved pretending to have broken up with her Bobby Boo-Boo Bear. Lori would have to let Bobby in on whatever plan she decided to use, in case anyone tried to poke him for information.

As Lori walked, she passed by a local family-owned convenience store. Since Flip's Food and Fuel was temporarily shut down due to multiple health violations, this convenience store was pretty much the only one-stop shop for snacks in Royal Woods. Not only did this place have _amazing_ chocolate bars in Lori's opinion, but it also sold bags of gummy worms that Lincoln is rather fond of. The oldest Loud sibling wanted to do something nice for her little brother, and she figured that a bag of candy was a simple but (literally) sweet gesture. Lori decided to head into the convenience store, figuring that a bag of candy was well within her budget.

Lori walked through the aisles of the convenience store, browsing the shelves of snacks and passing by the magazine rack. Lori was standing at the end of one of the lines of shelves that made up an aisle, looking at the dollar bags of candy. Finding the gummy worms Lincoln liked, Lori grabbed a bag, wondering if Lincoln would be allowed to have them in the hospital, when she heard the convenience store's doors open with the bell ringing, followed by three teenage boys hooting and hollering like monkeys.

Looking up from the candy she was browsing, Lori saw that the boys in question were Lance and his two idiot friends. " _They must be celebrating something_ ," Lori thought in disgust as she bent down a bit to avoid being seen by those idiots. The oldest Loud sibling was waiting for those three idiots to leave, hoping like hell that none of them saw her, when she heard the elderly man who owned the convenience store shout, "Hey, you kids! You need to pay for those!"

Confused, Lori peeked out from where she was crouched down and saw Lance and his two idiot friends run out of the convenience store. " _Typical_ ," Lori thought when she got up from where she was crouching, " _Not only Lance and his idiot friends are brutes who beat up little kids_ , _but they_ ' _re also shoplifters_." Lori suddenly thought to use this to her advantage; she was a witness to a crime that Lance and his idiots had pulled off, and she knew full well who they were.

At this point, the oldest Loud sibling can simply wait around with the store owner until police show up, tell the police what she knew, and slip in the fact that one of her classmates overheard the three boys having talked about how they beat up Lincoln and his two friends. Lori knew that this plan would require her to work with Carol, but this wouldn't be a problem since the two girls are now good friends with each other. And it _was_ thanks to Carol that Lori learned that it was Lance and his idiots who beat up Lincoln (plus Clyde and Rusty).

…But, just as Lori was about to go through with this plan, she had come up with _another_ plan that was far more satisfying to her.

Walking up to the convenience store's owner, Lori said in a concerned tone, "Umm, sir, what was all that I heard just now?"

"Some idiot punks stole a few bottles of beer from the cooler," the store owner explained in a disgusted tone, "Why do you ask? I don't suppose you saw any of them, did you?"

"Oh no," Lori replied as she gently shook her head in the negative, "When I heard a bunch of guys come into the store hollering like those monkeys at the zoo, I was frightened so I hid behind one of the aisles and hoped they wouldn't find me. I didn't peek out to see what was going on until I heard you shout something." Putting a bit more effort into her concerned look, Lori asked, "Did they really steal beers?"

"Of course, they did," the store owner replied, "It seems that most idiots don't give a crap about the law, so long as they can satisfy their buzz."

"You should call the police," Lori suggested, mostly as an extra layer of insurance in the hopes that Lance and his idiots would be caught, and Lori wouldn't have to go through with her plan entirely.

"My wife is already on it," the store owner said, "But thanks anyway. I'm glad to see that some kids still respect the law and small businesses. Sorry that this whole mess gave you a fright, young lady."

Nodding in understanding, Lori held up the bag of gummy worms she wanted to get for Lincoln and said, "Can I buy these? They're my little brother's favorite candy, and he's in the hospital right now, so I figured that he'd like them."

"Well aren't you a sweetheart," the store owner remarked as he walked behind the counter and over to his register, "Come on, I'll ring you up right now."

* * *

Lori managed to sneak in a visit to Lincoln at Royal Woods General. She told her little brother that she could only stay long enough to drop off the candy she had gotten him, and asked him not to tell the rest of the family about this visit, as she didn't want to be pestered with questions. Lincoln nodded in understanding, and thanked Lori for the candy.

Lori was glad to see that Lincoln was both awake and looking better; remembering the doctor's estimation of a three-day maximum stay, then judging how well Lincoln looked already, Lori estimated that Lincoln should be ready to leave the hospital and return home sometime before Brent's party on Friday. Lori was glad for this, as she always had a record for being correct in her estimations. This trait of Lori's was something that Lisa admitted she was jealous of.

Speaking of Lisa, Lori was able to borrow her handheld tape recorder, saying that she needed it for a school project and would be able to return it sometime the following Monday.

With that part of her plan out of the way, Lori proceeded to call her Bobby Boo-Boo Bear so she could explain to him the part of her plan that she needed his help with. Luckily for Lori, Bobby said that he was free to have a video chat with her, which allowed Lori to explain things to Bobby face-to-face. Bobby understood everything that Lori told had him, even saying that if he and his family still lived in Royal Woods, he and Lori would have been able to make a bigger show out of them 'breaking up', to make things seem more authentic thus upping the chances that Lori's plan would succeed.

And people wonder what Lori sees in the Hispanic teen who worked many jobs.

With all of that out of the way, all Lori had to do now was wait until the following day, where she would be able to put the next part of her plan into action. This next part of her plan was _not_ something that Lori was looking forward to at all, but hey, if Lori could put up with Lisa nearly blowing the house to oblivion on a near weekly basis and Luan's prank-apocalypse every April first, then there's no saying that the oldest Loud sibling shouldn't be able to deal with the next part of her plan.

* * *

The next day at Royal Woods High School, Lance Harrison was getting something out of his locker in one of the hallways when he heard a girl go 'ahem' behind him. Turning around, the star football player came face-to-face with Lori Loud. "Oh, Lori," Lance greeted in a cool, casual tone, "What's up?"

"I was there," Lori replied, "In the convenience store when you and your friends came in yesterday and stole a few things. I was there."

An amount of alarm spread across the star athlete's face, and although it was only a mild amount, Lori saw it clearly. "I have no idea what you're talking about," Lance remarked, "I went straight home after-"

"I saw you," Lori interrupted, her tone making it clear that she would not be deceived.

Seeing that he was at a stand-still, the star athlete tried a different approach. "My pals and I were a little bit thirsty, and we were a bit short," Lance asked, his tone cool yet neutral, "So?"

"Brazenly shoplifting like that," Lori began in an accusing tone, "Has literally got to be…" Lori stopped short, her expression changing from being suspicious to being impressed. "…One of the most daring things that I've ever seen," the oldest Loud sibling remarked in a calm and casual tone that sounded just the slightest bit aroused. Lori's sudden change caught Lance by surprise.

"You don't say," Lance replied, liking where this conversation with one of the hottest girls at Royal Woods High was going.

"You know," Lori began as she gave Lance a certain look, "I have a thing for daring guys. If you're still looking for someone to head to Brent's party with, I may be willing to change my previous answer."

"Well alright," Lance said as his mood instantly kicked up a few notches, "About damn time that-" Stopping short with a confused look on his face, the star football player asked, "Wait a minute, what about your long-distance boy-" Lance was cut off by Lori when she scoffed in an annoyed and disgusted tone.

"Please do NOT remind me of him right now," Lori said, "He ended our relationship yesterday, saying something about not feeling like handling a long-distance relationship."

"Oh, sorry about that," Lance replied, worried that he may have soured his one shot at a date to Brent's party.

Waving her hand in a dismissive manner, Lori said, "Oh, forget it. If he didn't want a long-distance relationship in the first place, he could have just said so." After taking a breath to steady herself, Lori continued, "So how about it, Lance? You think you can handle something that's apparently too much for someone the next state over to deal with?"

"Baby, you know it," Lance replied as he jerked a thumb at himself.

"Hmm, we'll see," Lori remarked, "Anywho, Brent's party is expected to start at around seven. I'll meet you at the party."

A mildly confused look on his face, Lance asked, "You don't want me to come pick you up from your place?"

"I've been saving a new outfit that I literally got just for this party," Lori explained, "And I want it to be a surprise. Besides, my friends are still expecting me to head to the party with them, and I can't let them down."

"Oh, well alright then," Lance said, "I know next to nothing about fashion, so I'll trust that you know what you're talking about."

Smiling, Lori replied, "Great! I'll see you on Friday, Lance." Waving the star football player goodbye, Lori took her leave. The oldest Loud sibling felt that she could not have gotten out of there fast enough. She literally could not believe that not only was she going to a party as some slimeball's date, but that said slimeball had beaten up her little brother.

Even so, Lori had accomplished the next part of her plan without trouble. Not only did Lori successfully get Lance as her 'date' to Brent's party, but that she had convinced him to meet her at the party, rather than allow him to come pick her up. The oldest Loud sibling did not want to take any chances with that boorish troll; he willingly assaulted and eleven-year-old boy, so there is no telling how far he'd want to go with a seventeen-year-old girl.

Either way, Lori had Lance on the hook now. All she had to do now was to reel him in. And she would be doing that at Brent's party tomorrow evening. As she walked through the halls of Royal Woods High, Lori was glad that Brent's party was going to occur on a Friday night; Lori felt that she was going to need the weekend to recuperate, as things were going to heat up from here on out.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER FIVE

Author's notes:

I'm sorry if some of you were expecting something along the lines of Lori using violence to beat Lance into a red pulpy paste, but what I have in mind involves Lori using subterfuge to gather evidence to prove Lance guilty, hand said evidence over to the appropriate authorities, then let everything fall into place. Lori, although she can be violent, is also _intelligent_. Something that Lance clearly is not, if him thinking that beating up an elementary school aged boy is a good idea to impress girls is any indication.

Anywho, the next chapter is going to feature a teen party. The parents are out of town, the music is cranked up to eleven, and at least one of the guests thought that it would be thoughtful to bring some…adult refreshments. It's basically going to be a teen-rated version of that episode where Lori had that party of hers.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter six: First born part three- An older sister's will

It was Friday afternoon over at the Loud family's residence. With the weekend ahead of them, the Loud siblings all had their own plans. Lisa would be preparing for a lecture she was going to be giving at a scientific convention, Lola was getting ready for another one of her pageants, Lana was considering the best place to wrestle other kids in the mud, Lucy was setting up a special sanctuary for herself in the vents of the house, Lynn was gearing up to play some sort of sport with her friends, and Luan had been hired to perform at a child's birthday party.

The three oldest Loud girls, Lori, Leni and Luna, who were currently in Lori and Leni's room, were all getting ready to head over to a party being held at the house of a classmate named Brent; his parents are going to be out of town until sometime on Tuesday, so there was absolutely no risk of the party being spoiled. "Wow, Lori," Luna remarked as she saw the outfit that Lori was going to wear to the party, "You've really gone all out this time on your outfit, haven't you?"

The outfit that the oldest Loud sibling wore consisted of a midriff-bearing tank-top in Lori's usual color of light blue, a skirt that was slightly shorter than the shorts that she usually wore while still being the same color, and a pair of sandals that wrapped partly around Lori's shins; the sandals were also slightly high-heeled. Rounding out Lori's appearance was pale pink eyeshadow, lipstick in a bright and strong shade of red, and gold hoop earrings.

"Well a girl has always got to look her best, after all," the oldest Loud sibling replied, "Speaking of, are you seriously going to show up at Brent's party looking the same as you always do?"

"Well hey," the musical Loud sibling replied with a shrug, "If something ain't broke, why try to fix it?"

"Hey girls," Leni called out, getting the attention of Lori and Luna, "What do you think?" The two teenage Loud girls turned to see their sister Leni, and saw that she was wearing an outfit that, aside from having the same color scheme as Leni's usual seafoam green dress, looked exactly the same as the outfit that Lori was currently wearing. Leni's eyeshadow was also the same shade of red as her signature hoop earrings, which she was currently wearing, and she had the same lipstick as Lori. Leni's white-framed sunglasses were, as always, resting on top of Leni's head. "Do you girls think that I'm totes ready to wow Aggro now?" the fashionable Loud girl asked her sisters.

"I'd…certainly say so," Lori remarked at something of a loss.

"So, girls," Luna said, "You two ready to rock that party?"

"I literally can't wait to go," Lori remarked, "I could really use some time to relax and have fun." With a somewhat concerned look on her face, Lori added, "Especially after what had happened very recently." Both of the other teenage sisters knew what the oldest of their number was talking about; Lincoln, their younger and only brother, had recently gotten out of the hospital after he and two of his friends were treated for being assaulted. The sole Loud boy was currently resting in his bed in his room, which was actually a converted linin closet.

"Is Linky okay?" Leni asked, clearly worried about their younger brother.

"The last time I checked in the little dude, he was fast asleep," Luna remarked.

"I feel totes guilty that the three of us are all going to a party while he's trying to get better after coming home from the hospital again," Leni said in a sad tone.

"Yeah, it is literally bogus that Lincoln's been put through the wringer again," Lori agreed with a nod, "But it's nowhere near as worse than when he came home after that month in the hospital." Walking over to her bedroom door, Lori peeked out of it. Coming back into her room, Lori continued, "Besides, our sisters are literally already looking out for Lincoln." Curious, Leni and Luna peeked out of the bedroom door themselves; they saw the twins, Lola and Lana, standing on either side of Lincoln's bedroom door, wearing yellow sashes and sunglasses. Each twin also held a golf club that, for girls of their height, resembled pole arms.

When she and Leni ducked back into the bedroom, Luna remarked, "I'm surprised you aren't chewing them out for taking some of your golf clubs, Lori."

"Neither of those are mine," Lori explained, "My golf clubs all have light blue handles. Lola and Lana clearly got those clubs from dad's golf set."

"Well that certainly-" Luna began in a knowing tone, but was cut off when she, Lori and Leni all heard someone knocking on the doorframe of Lori and Leni's room. Turning around, the three oldest Loud girls saw Lisa, the family's resident genius, standing in the doorway.

"I understand that the three of you will be attending a party hosted at the abode of one of your fellow classmates at school," the brainy Loud sibling said in her usual dry monotone.

"You got it, dude," Luna replied while pointing at Lisa, "It's going to be the wildest party of the school year!"

"Exactly as I had suspected," Lisa continued as she walked into the room and set up an easel that she put a giant flip-pad on. Flipping the cover of the flip-pad over, Lisa showed that the word 'DANGER' was written in big bold capital letters on the first sheet of the flip-pad. "That being said," the brainy Loud sibling continued, "I figured that it would have been in the best interest of you three if I took the liberty of setting this up to educate you on the dangers of going to, as our sister Luna had just put it, 'the wildest party of the school year'."

"Parties are dangerous?!" Leni exclaimed in alarm.

"They _can_ be if you go into one unawares," Lisa clarified, "But if you take the time to learn what could happen, you'll be all safer for it." Lisa then flipped the first sheet of the giant flip-pad, revealing that 'ALCOHOL' was written in big bold capital letters on the second page. "As the three of you should be aware, you're all under the legal age for consuming alcoholic beverages," Lisa said, "However, at quote unquote 'wild parties', the odds of underage drinking occurring anyway are one-to-one. Although I don't approve of drinking alcoholic beverages period, I suppose that I can't stop any of you from trying it anyway."

The brainy Loud sibling then proceeded to walk over to her three oldest siblings and hand each of them a little pamphlet with various information about safe drinking at parties. "If you three carefully follow what these pamphlets say, then you should be able to have fun at the party while still being responsible," Lisa said.

"Gee, thanks," Lori remarked somewhat dryly, annoyed that her four-year-old sister is lecturing her on the subject of drinking responsibly at a wild teen party.

"There is something else that I feel I must warn you girls about, due to the nature of what can happen at the sort of parties like the one you're all going to be heading to," Lisa continued as she flipped the next sheet of the flip-pad on her easel. To the confused looks of Leni and Luna, they didn't see a word in big bold capital letters; instead, they saw a drawing of a cup that contained a drink, and at the bottom of the cup was a small circular object of some kind that looked like it was slowly dissolving. Lori, however, knew full well what this drawing entailed.

"Umm, Lisa, what the hell is this?" Lori asked as she gestured to the drawing.

"Oh please," Lisa replied, "You never even considered the possibility that there would be at least one boorish slimeball at the party who may try to slip either you, Leni or Luna a pharmaceutical drug that would make whichever one of you girls who takes it more agreeable to having mature relations?"

"Which is the reason why the girls and I are going as a group," Lori explained to the little genius, "We'll be able to look out for each other."

"…Very well," Lisa replied, "I'll trust that you girls all know what you're doing. But before you all go, I want you all to do me a favor."

"What's that, Lisa?" Leni asked in her usual cheerful tone.

"If any of you drink anything," Lisa began saying to her three oldest siblings, "Check to make sure there's nothing in the drink first. Especially if someone hands you the drink rather than you getting the drink yourself. I don't want the rest of our family to be informed by police that some pompous monster thought that it would be a good idea to put you under the influence in order to have a little fun with you."

"Relax, Lisa," Lori assured the four-year-old genius, "Leni, Luna and I are going to be taking every precaution tonight."

"…Well alright, then," Lisa replied, seeing that the oldest of her siblings was confidant in what she was saying, "Oh, by the way, you may want these." Lisa then handed Lori an unopened pack that contained half a dozen blank cassette tapes for the handheld tape recorder that Lori had borrowed from her. "I'm not sure how many you're going to need for your project, but I figured that you could make use of all of them," Lisa said.

"Wow, thanks," Lori replied, "This will literally come in handy."

"Why did you borrow Lisa's tape recorder anyway, Lori?" Luna asked as she arched an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"I needed it for a school project," Lori explained. This, of course, was actually a lie, not that any of Lori's sisters knew, though; Lori's date to Brent's party, a member of the Royal Woods High football team named Lance Harrison, was the person who had assaulted Lincoln in the first place. Lori only knew about this because Carol Pingrey, a girl who is now close friends of Lori, overheard Lance and his two friends talk about what they had done, worrying that someone was going to find out it was them.

Unfortunately, due to lacking tangible evidence, Lori and the other girls of the varsity golf team, who were there when Carol told Lori what she had learned, could not inform the authorities about what Lance and his friends had done. However, a few days prior to the party, Lori was in a convenience store that Lance and his friends brazenly shoplifted from.

Using this fact, Lori said to Lance that she thought that he was a rather daring guy, and had reconsidered his request to take her to the party as a date. Lori would meet up with the star athlete at the party, and she would get him alone somewhere, while her purse was open with the handheld tape recorder inside. The oldest Loud sibling would use Lance's brazen shoplifting as a conversation starter, and slowly work Lance into admitting to his role in assaulting Lincoln. With recorded proof, Lori would report Lance to the police, and the boorish guy would be arrested.

That's what one gets for hurting one of Lori Loud's younger siblings.

Lori was brought out of her thoughts when Luan appeared in the open doorway of the bedroom Lori shared with Leni. "Allison, Aggro and Amy are here," the comedic Loud sibling said.

"Oh yeah, they're part of the group that we're going to go with to Brent's party," Luna explained, "We're going to pick up Sam and some of Lori's friends on the varsity golf team along the way."

"EEEEEEEE!" Leni squealed excitedly, "I can't believe that Aggro's finally here! How do I look, girls?"

"You look fine, Leni," Lori said in a reassuring tone, "I'm sure he'll like how you look." To Leni and Luna both, Lori said, "Now come on, girls. We can't keep our friends waiting forever, can we?" Both the musical and the fashionable Loud siblings nodded in agreement with their older sister as the three of them led Lisa and Luan out and away from Lori and Leni's room. The three girls then descended the stairs, met up with the Ace siblings, and made their way to the party.

* * *

After making a few stops to pick up Sam and some of Lori's friends on the varsity golf team, the group had arrived at Brent's party. "Alright everyone," Lori said to the group, "Now that we're here, let's have some fun, alright?"

"The party won't really start until a brawl breaks out," Allison remarked as she put her hands on her hips.

"That would only possibly happen if at least two people at the party drink too much," Lori pointed out, getting the feeling that the female Ace twin might end up being one of those two aforementioned people who drank too much.

"Ah yes, the abundance of good drink at parties such as this," Allison continued, "It's a good thing I brought a jug of mead from home!" Allison walked over to the back of Vanzilla and opened it, revealing that there was a large glass jug sitting in the back of the Loud family's van. The jug was filled with a yellowish-brown brew.

"You guys actually make mead?" asked one of Lori's friends on the varsity golf team, a slim fair-skinned girl with frizzy orange-red hair.

"The recipe for this mead has been passed down in my mother's side of the family for the last couple of generations," Allison explained with a hint of pride, "The recipe was brought all the way over from Sweden, the homeland of my mother's side of the family."

"Heh," Lori chuckled as she gestured to the mead, "I know for a fact that this stuff will be really popular with the guys at the party."

Picking up the jug of mead, Allison said, "Well what are we waiting for? We ought to get a move on, now!"

"Allison's right, everyone," Lori remarked, "We came here for the party, so let's head in already." There were a few nods from some of the group, while others gave excited cheers, right before everyone headed inside Brent's place for the biggest party of the school year.

* * *

The party seemed to be off to a good start so far as far as Lori could tell. The snacks were good, there were sodas for those who didn't want to drink alcohol, the music was pretty good (it was going to be good if Luna and Sam had anything to say about it), and everyone was talking and generally enjoying themselves.

As Lori expected, there were a few party guests who decided to bring alcoholic drinks. A few boys brought some twelve-can packs of beer, a few brought some six-bottle packs, and there is no forgetting the jug of homemade mead that Allison brought. The oldest Loud sibling saw a few guys drinking cans of beer while cheering like men at sports games, she saw Luna and Sam clink some beer bottles in a toast before they started drinking, and Lori even saw someone start a drinking contest with Allison.

"Mark my words," Lori muttered to herself, "That guy who challenged Allison is going down."

"Who's doing what now?" a male voice, one that was all too familiar to Lori, said behind the oldest Loud sibling. Turning around, Lori came face-to-face with Lance Harrison, her date to Brent's party. …If you'd be generous enough to refer to the boorish brute who shoplifted beers from a family-owned convenience store and beat up Lori's little brother as a 'date'.

"Oh, Lance," Lori said in a pleasantly surprised tone, one that she had practiced well so that a person of Lance's intelligence couldn't tell it was being faked, "About time I found you! I was beginning to worry that I'd be alone at this party!"

"Now what kind of a guy do you take me for?" Lance replied in an amused tone, "There's no way that I would ever stand up a girl."

" _Although you would beat up innocent elementary school_ - _age boys_ ," Lori thought but did not say out loud. Gently shaking her head, Lori said, "I was just seeing how this party was going so far."

"Yeah, Brent throws the wildest parties, doesn't he?" Lance remarked, "Hey, you want me to get you a drink?"

"No alcohol, please," Lori replied, "I have to drive my group home."

"That's fair," the star football player replied as he went over to where the drinks were at. While Lance was gone, Lori scanned the room to look for Brent, as she needed to ask him something. Eventually, the oldest Loud sibling spotted Brent in the crowd, talking to another guy at school. Although he looked like a stereotypical nerd, what with his horn-rimmed glasses that were taped together at the bridge, Brent was actually a surprisingly cool and well-received member of the Royal Woods High student body. It helped that Brent didn't have a stereotypical nerd's voice.

Lori walked up to where Brent and that other guy were talking, and got their attention. "Excuse me, Brent," Lori began, "But I don't suppose there's any place in this house where my date and I can be alone for a bit, is there?"

"Oh, hey Lori," Brent greeted, "Well, there's the den on the second floor. You should be able to find the den no problem; there's this sign that my little sister Lindsey made that says 'DEN' on the door."

"Thanks, Brent," Lori replied with a nod. Lori made her way away from where Brent and his friend were talking, and eventually met up with Lance, who was carrying two clear plastic drinking cups.

"Where you been, baby?" Lance asked as he handed her one of the cups he was carrying.

"I was asking Brent if there were any private places here," Lori replied as she received the cup from Lance. Giving her 'date' a sly look, the oldest Loud sibling continued, "Why do you ask?"

"Private places?" the star football player repeated in a confused tone.

Lori nodded in the affirmative as she took a quick look at the drink that Lance had gotten for her, a quick look that Lance didn't notice. Lori saw that Lance got her a beer anyway despite what she told him about having to give her siblings and friends a ride home later. Keeping up her acting, Lori said, "Well yeah, Lance. Don't you maybe…well…you know…"

Even an idiot like Lance could tell what Lori was trying to get at. Realizing what Lori was asking about, the star football player said, "Oh hell yeah I want to-"

"Wait a minute," Lori said in a suspicious tone as she leaned to her side to see something behind Lance, "I just spotted my sister Leni with her date." Lance turned his head to see Lori's sister Leni talking to Aggro Ace. "Hold my drink for me and wait here," Lori said as she handed her drink over to her 'date', "I need to go make sure he won't do anything stupid with my sister."

Understanding that this was a sister thing, Lance obeyed Lori, knowing that, when she was done giving the male Ace twin a piece of her mind, Lori would be locking lips with him, not to mention a little bit extra…

…

"That's a really nice sleeveless long coat you're wearing, Aggro," Leni remarked.

"Oh, you mean my haori?" Aggro asked as he looked down at his garment, "Yeah, I own a few haori coats like this. I've seen photos of men on my late father's side of the family wear these, so I figured that I should get some myself."

"It's a men's only thing?" Leni asked, looking mildly disappointed.

"Well it started out as a men's only thing," the male Ace twin explained, "But over time, women have started to wear haori coats as well."

"So, I can get one of these pretty long coats as well?" Leni asked, her tone picking right up.

"You can, if you want," Aggro replied, "And not all haori coats are of the long variety. There are some waist-length haori coats as well if you're interested."

"Wow, Aggro!" Leni remarked, "I didn't know you knew so much about fashion!"

"Well, I only have knowledge pertaining to-" Aggro began, but was cut off when Lori came up to him and Leni.

"Aggro," Lori began, "I'm going to be needing a huge favor from you."

"Is something the matter, Lori?" Aggro asked, a mildly concerned look on his face.

"I'm about to go in a private room with my date," Lori explained, "I need you to stand on either side of the door and to not come in unless you hear me call out in some sort of alarm, okay?"

"Are you afraid that your date may try to do something illegal to you?" Aggro asked.

"I'm not afraid of that, although my date did hand me a beer when I asked him to get me a drink," Lori replied, "Look, this is part of a plan that I have going to gather evidence, so I need you to trust me on this."

"…Well alright, I suppose," Aggro agreed at length.

"What should I do, Lori?" Leni asked.

"Stick with Luna, and do not say a word of what we just talked about to anyone," Lori instructed, "Do I make myself clear?" The fashionable Loud nodded in agreement.

"Hey, speaking of sisters," Aggro began, "Why not ask Allison to help with your plan?"

"One, because she knows enough of what I'm trying to do so that when she sees my date, she'll lose her temper and attack him on sight," Lori explained, "And two-"

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT MY SIBLINGS!" Allison roared in a clearly drunken tone, making Lori, Leni, Aggro and a number of other party guests turn their attention to see a very clearly intoxicated Allison talking to a very well-fed junior year boy from school.

"Umm," the well-fed guy said in a confused tone, "I didn't say anything about-"

"I OUGHT TO THROTTLE YOU FOR YOUR SLANDER, YOU DISHONORABLE TROLL!" the female Ace twin roared as she pulled back her right fist and threw a punch into the side of the well-fed guy's face, knocking him to the floor.

"WOOOOOO!" one of the other boys at the party cheered excitedly, "THEY'RE GOING TO FIGHT!" A number of other party guests, mostly boys, gathered to see the impromptu fight between the well-fed guy and Allison.

Grabbing the well-fed guy and holding him long-ways over her head as if he were a spear she was going to chuck, Allison exclaimed, "FOR ODIN!" as she threw the well-fed guy, sending him flying into a table along one of the walls. The table, a waist-high thin table that held a thin flower vase, was smashed under the well-fed guy's noticeable girth. Back where she stood with Aggro and Leni, Lori gave the male Ace twin a knowing look.

"…I see your point," Aggro replied dryly.

"Good," Lori said, "Anywho, my date and I will be alone in the den on the second floor. You can find it because there's a sign on the door that says it's the den. Brent told me that his little sister made the sign."

"Alright, Lori," Aggro replied with a nod of understanding, "I understand the instructions. I'll head up about a minute after you and your date head up so as to look suspicious."

"Sounds good," Lori replied, "Thanks again, Aggro." Lori turned around and left Aggro with Leni. The oldest Loud sibling had a 'date' to get together along with, after all.

* * *

Lori made a quick trip to the bathroom so she could turn on Lisa's handheld tape recorder so that it was recording when she put it back in her purse, which she left open. She then met up with Lance, telling her she had to freshen up a bit before coming back. She then led Lance up the stairs and down the hall until she found the door that had the sign that indicated that it was the den. Looking at the sign, Lori thought that it looked like something a girl like Lola would make.

While going up the stairs, Lori quickly downed the beer that Lance had gotten her, if only to keep him from getting suspicious from the fact that she wasn't drinking it. Although it wasn't the first time that the oldest Loud sibling had consumed a beer or any other sort of alcohol, she was still trying to get use to the sensation of an alcoholic beverage going down. Also, this clearly wasn't the same brand that Lori's dad had whenever he hung out with friends of his, such as the McBrides. There was a clear difference in taste.

"Well, here we are," Lori said as she opened the door to lead Lance into the den. Inside, Lori saw a sofa, one recliner on either side of the sofa, and a coffee table set in front of the sofa. Walking further into the room Lori saw that, along the wall opposite of the sitting furniture, there was an entertainment system. Closing the door behind her, Lori said, "Now we can be alone."

"Pretty nice, baby," Lance remarked as he walked over to the sofa and sat down. Lance gestured for Lori to come over, to which the oldest Loud sibling accepted. As Lori sat her open purse down on the coffee table, Lance said, "So when do you want to start?"

"Actually, I don't feel…worked up enough," Lori replied as she sat down, "If you know what I'm talking about. Maybe if you tell me more about that daring stunt that you and your friends pulled, I might get just the amount of excitement I need to get going." Giving Lance her best aroused look, Lori said, "You do know how I like a daring guy, remember?"

"Oh, I get it," Lance replied in a knowing tone, "I need to kick your engine into overdrive first before we can ride."

"Mmm, I never heard it put that way before, but yeah, you get the point," Lori said, actually being honest about not having heard it put the way that Lance had just said.

"So okay, check it," Lance began, "The boys and I were a little thirsty, right? But we knew that the old man running the place wouldn't sell us any beers."

"Old people do tend to be sticklers for rules," Lori remarked as she sounded like she was agreeing with Lance.

"Well given that the old man is practically a dinosaur given how old he is," Lance went on, "The boys and I figured that we could just go in, grab the beers, and run out before the old man could throw his back out or whatever trying to chase us down."

"Mmm, sounds pretty daring to do something like that in broad daylight," Lori said in an amused voice that sounded just a bit seductive, "No wonder girls all over the school like you. Anyone would be lucky to go out with such a daring individual. I bet you can take anyone in a fight, too."

"Oh, I'm not the toughest person at school for nothing," Lance said in a tone that clearly showed that he was not only bragging but putting on airs as well. Flexing his arms, Lance continued, "You name a person, and I guarantee you that I can kick his ass!" Lori nodded as if she was agreeing with the boorish athlete, knowing full well that Lance's idea of 'anyone' also extended to include elementary school-age boys roughly half his size.

"I don't suppose you've beaten any idiots up recently, have you?" Lori asked, "Go on, your secret is safe with me."

"Heh," Lance chuckled in an amused tone, "Well, since you insist, there was this one thing a few days back where me and the boys who were with me when we got those beers from the old man's convenience store got into a scrape with these three idiots from a rival school. Just what in the hell were they thinking, coming in on our turf? So, the boys and I had to show them what's what."

"Boys from a rival school?" Lori said in a mildly alarmed tone that only she knew was fabricated, "Geez, that sounds awfully frightening."

"Well don't worry about that, baby," Lance said, "The boys and I drove them off."

"I'm glad you did, Lance," Lori continued in her (fabricated) alarmed tone, "I can't stand the idea of jerks from rival schools here in Royal Woods. I'd bet that they would kick dogs and rough up innocent kids!"

"Sounds like something those idiot rivals would do, yeah," Lance remarked, agreeing with Lori completely.

"In fact, this one boy who lives in my neighborhood was recently beaten up, and I'm willing to bet good money that those jerks from the rival school you're talking about were responsible for it," Lori said firmly.

"Some kid in your neighborhood was beaten up?" Lance remarked, unaware of where this conversation was going, "Geez, sorry to hear about that."

"Thanks," Lori said, "I can't believe someone would do that him. He's such a sweet kid, Lance. You'd like meeting him."

"Sounds like a cool little dude to me," Lance remarked.

"The kid really stands out, too," Lori went on, feeling a faint feeling in her head that she was able to power through, "There's no missing him."

"What does the little dude look like, baby?" Lance asked.

"Oh, he's a fair-skinned kid," Lori explained, "I always see him wearing an orange shirt. Ehh, I just assume that orange is his favorite color. Oh, this kid literally also has the whitest hair that you'd ever see."

"You…you don't say…" Lance said, shocked that Lori had just described one of the kids that he and his friends had beaten up.

"Oh yeah," Lori said in the best declaring tone that she could currently manage, "Those bastard rivals from the rival school that you mentioned are a bunch of right proper bastards!"

"Yeah, to hell with them!" Lance agreed, completely relieved that Lori was blaming some guys from their rival high school.

"They had not only beaten that sweet neighbor kid, but two of his friends as well," Lori went on, "Some kid with orange-red hair and freckles and a dark-skinned boy with glasses." The oldest Loud sibling felt yet another faint feeling in her head, but she quickly pushed through it due to the sheer strength of her will. "Why, if I ever find those bastard rivals of ours who did it, I will literally turn them all into human pretzels for what they did!" Lori declared.

"Give me and the boys a heads up when you find those bastards, alright?" Lance said, "We'll take care of beating them for you."

"Well aren't you sweet," Lori remarked, "I might have to take you up on that."

"Heh," the star football player replied, "Anytime, baby. I'm always glad to rough someone up for you."

"Speaking of you roughing someone up," Lori began, "A friend of mine overheard something a few days ago."

"What do you mean?" Lance asked, a confused look on his face.

"Oh, a close friend of mine," Lori explained, "I like to call her Grey, said that she overheard you taking to some other guys in a stairwell over at school."

"Really, now," the star football player remarked, his tone cooling just a bit.

"And you would literally not BELIEVE what she told me, Lance!" Lori continued, "Grey told me that-" Lori was cut off when Lance quickly covered her mouth with his left hand.

"I don't think that you ought to finish that sentence," Lance said in a warning tone, "You may not like what will happen if you do."

" _Oh yeah_ ," Lori thought confidently, " _I got you now_." Struggling with both Lance's arm and another bout of that faint feeling in her head, Lori managed to yank Lance's hand away from her face before screaming in a frightened and distressed tone. About one second after that, both Lori and Lance heard someone knocking on the door.

"Hey, is everything okay in there?" replied a voice that Lori recognized as Aggro's, "I just heard someone scream!"

"There's nothing wrong, dude!" Lance shouted back, having failed to recognize who it was, "Everything is fine in here!"

"We literally are not fine in here!" Lori shouted back, "This jerk's trying to force himself on me!"

"I am not!" Lance shouted, but the star athlete's shout was drowned out by the door being busted open, followed by Aggro barging in. He was followed by two other guys, both of which were regular party guests that had heard the panicked scream. In fact, one of the guys was the well-fed guy that Allison threw into a table.

"What the hell is going on here?!" asked the third boy of the group, a slim dark-skinned guy with long dreadlocks and one of those large beanie hats that was colored to look like the Jamaican flag.

"This jerk is literally trying to force his way into my pants!" Lori said as she pointed an accusing finger at Lance.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" the well-fed guy asked Lance as he and Aggro cracked their knuckles.

"This crazy girl is lying!" Lance insisted, pointing accusingly at Lori.

"Then why did she scream, Harrison?" Aggro asked, a serious look in his eyes, eyes that he had inherited from his late father's side of the family.

"He covered my mouth with his hand to try to keep me from screaming!" Lori declared.

"Yeah, that sound's about accurate," said the slim dark-skinned guy. As the three boys confronted Lance in the den, Sam walked by and, noticing the door to the den was opened, she peeked inside.

Seeing so many people in the den, Sam asked, "Yo, what's going on?"

"Call the police," the slim dark-skinned guy said, "Someone just tried to force himself onto a girl here at the party."

"Holy crap!" Sam exclaimed, going wide eyed with shock, "I bet the girls are going to freak when they hear that!"

"I wouldn't be all that surprised if that ended up happening, Sam," Aggro replied in a knowing tone, "Given that the girl in question is Lori."

"HEY LUNA, LENI!" Sam yelled in a worried tone as she ran downstairs, "SOME BASTARD JUST TRIED TO FORCE HIMSELF ON LORI!" As the sounds of panicking people started to flood up from the ground floor, the three boys who were confronting Lance all gave the boorish football player a firm look.

"…You're not getting out of this, mon," the slim dark-skinned boy said to Lance as he, the well-fed guy and Aggro starred him down.

* * *

Luckily for the partying teenagers, they were able to get rid of all of the alcohol before the police showed up. Additionally, all of the teens who had consumed alcohol was able to cover it up by drinking a lot of the soda that was brought. It also helped that by the time the police showed up, all of the alcohol that the teens had already consumed had worked its way out of the systems of the teens who drank it. Allison was the only exception, but she was asleep (i.e. passed out) in a guest bedroom, and the police were never aware that she was even there.

When the police arrived, they took statements from everyone who was aware of what was going on. Lori, Aggro, the well-fed guy and the slim dark-skinned guy were the ones interviewed the most by the police. During her being interviewed by the police, Lori told them what she was told about Lance and his friends being involved in both assaulting those elementary school-age boys, and the much lesser offence of shoplifting a few beers from the family-owned convenience store. After receiving images of what the police sketch artist drew when Lincoln and his friends were telling the police what they remembered, the officer compared one of the sketches to Lance and saw that there was a very good match. Lori didn't even need Lisa's tape recorder after all.

Lance was promptly arrested on a variety of charges. Lance's two friends would end up getting arrested the following day for their roles in the shoplifting and assault cases, but as she and the other party guests watched the police cars pull away and drive off, Lori Loud could not care less. Lance Harrison had hurt Lincoln, and now the boorish athlete was going to be punished for it. That's all Lori cared about.

Nothing more, nothing less.

* * *

The morning following the party, Lori, Leni and Luna sat at the dining room table in their family's house. Lori had a very slight buzz in her head, but it was minor at best. A good thing that she only drank the one beer and nothing more. Leni was even better off, as the fashionable Loud sibling didn't consume any alcohol at all. Luna was trying to power through something of a hangover, and was actually having a good go at it, as this was not her first hangover.

"So, it was Lance Harrison and two of his friends who beat up Linky and his friends?" Leni asked, a very disappointed look on her face.

"Don't worry, Leni," Lori said, "Lance got arrested last night, and the police know what he did." Picking up her mug of coffee, the oldest Loud sibling said, "There's no need to worry." As Lori sipped her coffee, Lincoln came into the dining room as quickly as he could.

"Oh, good morning, Lincoln," Lori greeted, "What's-"

"One of the guys who beat me, Clyde and Rusty up a few days ago is on the news!" Lincoln said in an alarmed tone.

"Oh yeah, little dude," Luna said as loudly as she could manage as she was still trying to nurse a hangover, "The jerk was actually at the party last night, and he-"

"The news is saying that he's been killed in jail!" Lincoln said, cutting his musical older sister off in the process.

"Killed?!" Lori said in a confused and alarmed tone as she and the others all went out into the living room. There, they saw their other siblings all gathered on and around the sofa as they watched a breaking news report.

"…At least three other men in the cell with him have been moved to private holding following their assault on the late seventeen-year-old boy became fatal," the news reporter said as he was in the middle of the news bulletin, "According to what officers at the location said after moving the men to private holding, the men charged with the late teen's death were trying to make him give them his shoes, which were reportedly high-quality expensive shoes, and when Lance refused the men took action that soon turned fatal. A memorial service is planned this Friday for the former star of Royal Woods High's football team."

As the news switched to a different subject, Lynn remarked in a mildly somber tone, "Damn. Just...just damn. I mean, I know what he did was so bad that I wanted to give him a pounding for it, but what those guys in the jail did just goes way too damn far."

"I have to agree," Lola said, sounding like some of the wind had been knocked out of her sails, "As terrible as he was for what he did, he was still under adult age. I mean, his parents didn't even get the chance to try and post bail for him."

Lori had to agree with her sisters' feelings on this matter. Lance was still a minor (Lori knows for a fact that Lance was seventeen); as terrible as what Lance did to Lincoln is, Lori felt that Lance getting beaten to death, and over refusing to give up his _shoes_ no less, was just way too much. Lori hoped that the men charged with Lance's death will get what's coming to them, if only to give Lance's grieving parents some closure.

Lori wanted justice for justice's sake.

* * *

Later that day, after she had called Bobby to let him know that the plan had worked and that they can stop pretending to have broken up, Lori went over to Lincoln's room to see who he was doing. Knocking on his door, Lori said, "Lincoln? You in there?"

"Yeah, I'm just playing a video game," Lincoln called out. Lori then opened the door and let herself in. She saw Lincoln sitting on his bed, playing on a hand-held game system. The sole Loud boy was wearing a baggy orange t-shirt (not one of his usual polo shirts), a pair of orange sleep pants, and a pair of socks. "What's up?" Lincoln asked his sister as he paused his game and set it off to the side.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing," Lori replied, "I mean, the guys who beat you, Clyde and Rusty up were all arrested and..." Lori trailed off, sighed in a resigned tone, then continued, "...And one was even killed while in holding. I'd bet all of the talk about those guys who beat up you and your friends might have brought up a bunch of bad memories for you."

"Well, I am a little rattled to hear anything about them," Lincoln admitted, "And hearing about one of the guys getting killed was rather shocking." With a gentle shake of his head, the sole Loud boy continued, "Still, we can't change what happened. Here's hoping that the guys who beat a minor to death gets what's coming to them." With a sigh, Lincoln continued, "As for myself, well...I guess that I'm going to be fine. ...Well, as fine as I can be, given the circumstances."

Smiling, Lori said, "Yeah, you got me there, Lincoln." The oldest Loud sibling walked over, sat down on the bed next to Lincoln, and gently threw her arms around him to draw him into a hug.

"Thanks for keeping that promise you made," Lori said gently.

"Promise?" Lincoln replied, sounding lost.

"The promise you made about not going anywhere," Lori clarified as a tear welled up in the corner of her eye, "I told you how it would literally be the worst thing ever if I went from having nine sisters and one brother to having nine sisters and no brother, remember?"

Smiling as he knew now what his oldest sibling was talking about, Lincoln proceeded to return the hug. "I never break a promise if I can help it," Lincoln replied.

"I know," Lori said in a soft tone as she continued to hug her little brother, "You're a sweet kid like that, Lincoln."

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER SIX

Author's notes:

And that brings Lori's time in the spotlight to an end. There's a reason why Lori was the first Loud sibling to be born, you know, and that's so she can look after the siblings that were born after her. Well anywho, now that Lori's time in the spotlight is finished, I can get started on the next arc. It will be based around the sister who (in my opinion) can become nightmare fuel incarnate when she really lets loose. Still, her time in the spotlight in this story is going to be a real _read_. Heh, heh, heh…get it?

Next time: The Final Punchline

EDIT 4-30-18 (Mid-afternoon): I edited parts near the end to make the Louds come off as far less mean-spirited; now that I have had some time to think about it, how they originally reacted was rather jerkish.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter seven: The Final Punchline part one- Now stop me if you heard this one before…

Up in one of the bedrooms over at the Loud family's residence, on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed, Luan Loud slept peacefully. On a nightstand next to the bunk bed, the digital alarm clock read the time as five-fifty-nine AM. A few seconds after looking at this alarm clock, it suddenly changed to six AM. The instant that happened, Luan's eyes shot wide open, and a smile spread across the comedic Loud sibling's face.

Luan had a plan, you see. A plan that required as little interruption from her other siblings as possible. And what a wide variety of siblings did Luan have! The comedy-lover had nine sisters and one brother, and their ages ranged from roughly fifteen months to seventeen years. Luan needed time to herself, and being found out by any of her siblings would ruin the surprise. Luckily for her, Luan did not wake up her older sister Luna, who slept on the upper bunk.

Tiptoeing down stairs, Luan eventually made her way into the kitchen, where she removed a pan, a mixing bowl, a measuring cup, a wooden spoon, and a number of varying ingredients as quietly as she could. Oh, this plan that the comedic Loud sibling had planned was going to be her best one yet, one that she was certain would get a good laugh going…

…

Sometime shortly later in the morning, the rest of the family who was not stuck in California had woken up at roughly the same time. The other Loud siblings had made their way down the stairs where they were greeted by their father, Lynn Sr. The Loud patriarch had a pleasantly surprised but confused look on his face. "Hey pops, what's up?" Luna asked, having noticed the look on her dad's face.

"Luan made breakfast for us," the Loud patriarch replied, clearly unsure what to make of what his comedic daughter had done.

"Luan made breakfast for us?" Lori asked in a mildly accusatory tone, "Why would she do something like that?"

Sniffing about the air, Lana said, "I smell pancakes."

"Pancakes?" Lola, Lynn and Luna all said in unison in an excited tone.

"I bet she put hot sauce in the pancakes, though," Lori stated in an assured tone.

Once again, Lana sniffed about the air. "…I doubt that Luan tampered with the pancakes," the tomboyish Loud twin remarked, "They smell safe to me."

"Come on, Lori," Lincoln said as he turned to regard the oldest Loud sibling, "Luan went through the trouble of making breakfast for all of us. Why don't you give her a chance?"

The pleading look that she was getting from her younger brother got through to Lori in quick order. Sighing in a resigned tone, Lori said, "Fine, I'll give Luan the benefit of the doubt on this one." As the Loud siblings and their dad all walked into the dining room, Lori added, "But if she did anything, I swear I will literally turn her into a human pretzel."

Upon entering the dining room, the Louds all saw that not only had Luan made pancakes, but she had also prepared some scrambled eggs and bacon to go along with it. Also, every place at the table had a prepared plate already at it, saving time and effort for the rest of the family. Standing off to the side for the rest of the family to see was Luan.

"So?" the comedic Loud sibling asked, "What do you all think?"

"Just what are you planning?" Lori asked, her tone mildly suspicious of Luan.

"What am I planning?" Luan replied, "Why, all I did was get breakfast ready for my family. What's the harm in that?"

"Luan's got a point, Lori," Leni remarked, "You need to, like, relax. I mean, Linky's made breakfast for all of us a few times before, remember?"

"Yes, but Lincoln and Luan are literally two different people," Lori said as she and the rest of the family went up to the table. Upon getting closer, Lori noticed that there were place cards with everyone's names on them; the seat at the table that Lori had walked up to had in fact been set aside for her. Pointing to the place card at her place at the table, Lori asked Luan, "What is this?"

"I wanted to give breakfast a little extra flare," the comedic Loud sibling explained, "So I made little name cards and set them at everyone's places at the table, like at certain parties and social events."

"Oh, I know what you're talking about," Lincoln remarked as the rest of the family walked over to their respective places at the table, "That's a really nice touch, Luan."

Everyone then proceeded to sit down in their chairs. When that occurred, the sound of someone farting could be heard coming from where Lori sat, making everyone turn to face her.

"Wow Lori, gassy much?" Lynn said in a joking manner.

"It wasn't me!" Lori insisted in an embarrassed tone, "It was my shoe!" In response to Lori's insistence that it was her shoe, the twins bent over to take a look as Lori's feet.

"You aren't wearing anything on your feet, Lori," Lola pointed out, giving her oldest sister a mildly suspicious look.

"I knew it!" Lana declared as she pointed at Lori, "I knew that it was your butt this whole time, Lori! I knew it!"

"It wasn't me!" Lori insisted, her voice rising in volume slightly. Some of Lori's siblings started laughing at the fact that their oldest sister had seemingly been caught red-handed.

"Wow," Luan remarked, "I had no idea that making breakfast for you all would be a real _gas_!" After chuckling for a bit, Luan said, "Get it?" The siblings who were laughing at Lori's apparent passing of gas, as well as Lynn Sr., were still chuckling. The only ones who were not laughing were Leni because she didn't get it, both Lucy and Lisa because they seldom ever show emotion, Lori because she was angry, and Lincoln, who merely sighed.

* * *

All of the chairs at the dining table had chair cushions on them. As it turned out, Luan had hidden a whoopee cushion under the chair cushion on Lori's chair. With that business out of the way, Luan proceeded to work on getting ready for another Funny Business gig. The comedic Loud sibling was set to perform at the birthday party of a young Jewish girl who was turning eight. As Luan was getting the last of what she would need to perform at the party downstairs, she bumped into Lincoln.

"You got another party to perform at?" Lincoln asked.

"Mmm hmm," Luan said as she nodded in the affirmative, "I'm not expecting to get back until sometime shortly after six this evening. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just wondering," the sole Loud boy replied. Looking at all of the stuff that Luan had gotten out, Lincoln remarked, "Wow. You're going to go all out, aren't you?"

"Well I always go all out," Luan explained, "I wouldn't be a professional if I didn't."

"I can understand that," Lincoln replied in an understanding tone, "But still, this seems like an awful lot of stuff to bring with you and bring back."

"Well, truth be told, this one is kind of special," the comedic Loud sibling admitted, "The girl whose party I've been hired to perform at is…well, the mom told me that her daughter is…she's similar to you, Lincoln."

The sole Loud boy looked confused. "Me?" Lincoln said, "How is she similar to me?"

"Well, umm," Luan began, "The girl whose party I'm going to perform at, well…she was injured in the attack on your school."

"Oh," Lincoln replied, understanding what his comedic older sibling was talking about. The sole Loud boy unconsciously brushed his hand against the side of his left leg; due to the fact that Lincoln was currently wearing pants and a pair of socks, no one could tell right away that his left leg was horrifically scarred and brutally bruised, due to severe damage that Lincoln suffered in an attack on his school a little over a month ago.

"Yeah," Luan said, "The mom wouldn't go into a lot of detail about how it happened, but she's been trying to help her daughter adjust to everything as best as she can since the attack. We can all relate to that, right Lincoln?"

"Yeah," Lincoln replied with a somber nod, "We know about that stuff all too well."

"Aww, cheer up, Lincoln," Luan began in as happy of a tone as she could manage, "You know how I won't stand for anyone feeling down in the dumps at this house!" Giving her little brother a knowing look, Luan added, "I'm not going to have to bust out some of my material, am I?"

"No, no," Lincoln said, "That won't be necessary, Luan." The comedic Loud sibling noticed that her little brother still seemed a little sad, so she decided to do something that she knew would turn that frown upside-down and get a few laughs going.

Luan promptly began to tickle Lincoln.

Luan's tickling worked like a charm, as the sole Loud boy began to fill the upstairs hallway with his laughter. Upon hearing the commotion, the twins and Lucy all came out to investigate what was going on.

"Hey Luan," Lola began in a mildly confused tone, "Why are you tickling Lincoln?"

"Oh, he had a frown on his face," Luan explained, "So I decided to fix it."

"By tickling him?" Lana replied in a confused tone, her expression looking confused as well.

"Well I have a party to perform at today, and I don't have time to bust out one of my routines," Luan said, "If I had the time, I would have used a routine that would have left Lincoln lying on the floor laughing."

"It must be a new routine that none of us have seen yet," Lucy remarked in her usual emotionless monotone, "We've seen everything else so far."

"I'm actually planning to use my new routine at the party I'm going to perform at," Luan said, "If it goes well there, then I know everyone will love it!"

"If your new routine is as funny as Lori cutting the cheese at breakfast today, then I'm looking forward to it," Lana replied.

"Lana, it was just a whoopee cushion that Luan hid under the chair cushion on Lori's chair, remember?" Lola pointed out to her tomboyish twin.

Shrugging indifferently, Lana said, "Who cares? Besides, Lori had no shoes to blame it on that time, so she was out in the open."

"Well, you all take care while I'm gone," the comedic Loud sibling said to her younger brother and younger sisters. In a joking manner, Luan added, "Try not to tear everything to pieces while I'm gone, alright?"

"With Lori in charge since dad is at work?" Lincoln replied. With a gentle shake of his head, the sole loud boy continued, "Yeah, I don't see the house falling apart happening anytime soon."

"Yeah, the house is going to stay standing with the gas-master in charge," Lana remarked, chuckling a bit to herself. Luan chuckled a bit at Lana's joke as well.

"Heh, gas-master," Luan said as she got out the last bit of laughing, "That's a good one, Lana. I have got to remember it." Luan and the others went down the stairs, and Luan gathered up the supplies she'd be needing for the party she was set to perform at. The comedic Loud sibling then gave her younger siblings a final good-bye wave before taking off.

* * *

The party, as was most of the parties that Luan performed at, was a complete success. Granted, Luan had to omit a few things from the routine she had planned, but that was only because she lacked an assistant to help with throwing pies and such. Still, Luan did her best, and the kids all had a blast, the birthday girl especially.

"That was amazing, young lady," the girl's mother remarked to Luan as they talked following the end of Luan's routine and the resuming of other party activities. The two of them turned their attention to see the birthday girl beginning the process of opening all of the gifts she received for her birthday. "I haven't seen my daughter this happy since…" the mother said, trailing off a bit. Continuing in a mildly somber tone, the mother said, "…Since she was hurt in that attack."

"I can understand that," Luan remarked in a sympathetic tone, "And it doesn't seem fair that she hasn't had a lot of chances to laugh recently. Everyone deserves to laugh, if you ask me."

"You are too kind, Luan," the mother said with a nod. The mother and Luan turned their attention to where the birthday girl sat, having unwrapped a new stuffed animal of some kind. "Why, my daughter acts as if she wasn't caught up in that incident at Royal Woods Elementary," the mother remarked.

"Yeah," Luan said in a tone of agreement, "She looks like she doesn't have a care in the world right now." The comedic Loud sibling, who was currently facing the direction the birthday girl was in, turned back to face the girl's mother. "You know, I'm familiar with someone else who was also hurt in the attack on Royal Woods Elementary School."

"You do?" the mother remarked in a mildly worried tone as she held a hand over her chest, "Oh dear, that can't be good. Who do you know that was hurt in the attack, young lady?"

"My little brother," Luan remarked, her expression looking a bit somber. The birthday girl's mother was brought out of her own somber expression, shocked to hear that someone close to the comedic Loud sibling was also hurt in that great travesty.

"Your little brother?" the mother said, barely above a whisper due to being so shocked.

Nodding gently, Luan said, "Yeah. My little brother's left leg was brutally damaged in the attack. I'm kind of surprised that he still has it." The mother could not help but look worried. "But my little brother's still the same kid I've always known him to be," Luan said as she was perking right back up, "In fact, he's been my sort-of go-to assistant for performing at parties for quite some time! The reason he's not here now is because he's still recovering a bit."

"Well do me a favor when you get home, young lady," the mother said, "And tell your little brother that I wish him a speedy recovery, alright?"

"Can do, ma'am!" Luan replied as she gave the mother a salute, prompting both the mother and herself to laugh in good-nature.

* * *

That was, in Luan's own humble opinion, one of the best parties that she had ever performed at. To make matters even better for Luan, that the was the first party where a Jewish family had ever wanted her to perform at; since the comedic Loud sibling did well here, word of her abilities as a performer will spread through Royal Wood's Jewish community, thus expanding Luan's possible customer base. She may even get hired to perform at bar mitzvas now.

So, it was with a spring in her step that Luan made her way home, dragging a wagon of her gear behind her. Boy, did the comedic Loud sibling have some stories to tell her family when she got back home! Especially that one story where, while the kids were playing pin the tail on the donkey, the birthday girl had unknowingly pinned the tail on the rear end of the piñata that her mother got for the party! That sure was funny!

As Luan made her way down the sidewalk, humming a happy little tune to herself, she accidentally bumped into a man. "Hey, watch it, kid!" the man snapped, making the comedic Loud sibling flinch slightly out of alarm. Looking up, Luan saw the man in question; about as tall as Lynn Sr., the man was slim, fair-skinned person who wore a gray long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, brown shoes, and a black beanie cap that covered what hair he had. The man also had some five-o-clock shadow that was a solid shade of black.

"Sorry, sir," Luan apologized, "I was just getting back from a party."

"Ehh, whatever," the man replied in an indifferent tone as he shrugged off what Luan did and proceeded to continue on his way. After the man had passed her, Luan could not help but get the feeling that this man was someone that she should avoid. But that was no problem. After all, Luan had someone else, or rather a number of someones, that she wanted to get back to with all due speed.

* * *

"…And that's when she combined pin the tail on the donkey with hitting a piñata!" Luan said as she finished up a story she was telling her siblings, getting most of them to laugh. Only Lisa and Lucy, who regularly don't show emotion, and Lori, who was still ticked at Luan for the stunt during breakfast, did not laugh, although in the case of the oldest Loud sibling, she could not help but crack a smile.

"Man, Luan," Lincoln said as he wiped a laughter-induced tear from one of his eyes, "Remind me to give you a heads-up when my next birthday rolls around!"

"There's no need for that," the comedic Loud sibling replied as she pulled out a calendar, seemingly out of nowhere. Opening the calendar and going through the pages, Luan said, "Not only do I have the birthdays of everyone in the family marked out, but I also have something special planned for each and every birthday. The one that I'm looking forward to the most is Lola and Lana's birthday, as that's going to be something of double-feature."

"You have everyone's birthdays marked?" Lynn asked her older sister, giving the comedy expert a mildly confused look.

Nodding in the affirmative, Luan continued, "I'm going to have to figure out how to sneak my party stuff past that super-controlling nurse who works at the home where Pop-Pop lives so that I can throw his birthday party."

"You mean Sue?" Lincoln asked in a mildly curious tone, "Actually, she was fired."

"She was fired?" Luan repeated in a mildly shocked tone as she and the other Loud sisters all turned their attention to their only brother.

"Why was she fired, Lincoln?" Lana asked.

"Because she lost one of the seniors at the retirement home," Lincoln replied.

"With all due respect," Lisa remarked, "It is quite a common occurrence for people of advanced ages to pass away."

"No, no," Lincoln said as he gently shook his head before clarifying what he meant, "Not lost as in 'passed away', lost as in 'physically misplaced'."

"…I beg your pardon?" the four-year-old genius replied in a deadpan tone.

"One of the older women who lived at the retirement had gone missing," the sole Loud boy explained to his sisters as a whole, "From what Pop-Pop told me about it, the senior woman wasn't found until she turned up somewhere over in Washington state."

"How did that woman end up literally on the far end of the country?" Lori asked, a mildly baffled look on her face.

Shrugging, Lincoln replied, "You tell me and we'll both know."

"So, one of the seniors under Sue's watch went missing," Lana began, "And that senior wasn't found until she turned up over on the far end of the country. And that's why Sue was fired." Leaning back slightly, Lana said as she gently shook her head, "There are just some things in this world that can't be explained."

"Nonsense," Lisa stated, "It's one of my goals in life to find a logical explanation for everything."

"Okay then," the tomboyish Loud twin replied to her brainy younger sister, "Explain how peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwiches are surprisingly good."

Face-palming, Lori said to the tomboyish twin, "I literally cannot believe that you and Leni both developed a liking for those gross sandwiches."

"Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it," Lincoln said when he turned to face his oldest sibling.

"But seriously," Lana continued saying to Lisa, "Explain why they taste good."

"…I stand corrected," the brainy Loud sibling remarked dryly, her tone carrying just the barest hint of defeat, "There really _are_ some things in this world that just cannot be explained."

"Victory!" Lana cheered, pumping both of her fists into the air. All of the Loud siblings, except for Lisa and Lori, all started to laugh. Luan in particular found this to be funny, but only partly because of Lana having beaten Lisa in an argument. What really got Luan laughing was seeing that Lincoln was laughing. After what her little brother, her _only_ brother, had gone through over the past couple of weeks, seeing Lincoln laughing and smiling made Luan laugh more out of joy rather than because something was funny.

Luan was happy to see Lincoln like this. He deserved a break.

* * *

The following day, Luan was out with Lori and Luna, helping them with getting something for their dad; Leni would have gone with them, but the fashionable Loud sibling was on one of her many trips to the mall at the time. "You know, Luan," Lori began, "I didn't really appreciate that little joke of yours from yesterday."

"Which one?" the comedy expert replied in a curious tone, sounding just a little bit apprehensive because someone just told her that they didn't like one of her jokes, "You're going to have to be a little bit more specific."

"You know _damn_ well which one I'm talking about!" Lori snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Luan, prompting the comedic Loud sibling to flinch back out of mild fright.

"Whoa there, dude," Luna said, "Take a chill pill, Lori." Turing to regard her younger sister and roommate, Luna continued, "But seriously, Luan. Lori didn't really like how you hid a whoopee cushion under the chair cushion that she sat on during breakfast yesterday to make it look like she cut the cheese."

"Well with all of the times Lori claimed that it was her shoes making the noise, I figured that it'd be funny if it looked like she passed gas while she didn't have anything on her feet," Luan said, "I mean, it got a laugh out of a lot of the family, didn't it?"

"Yes, but not _all_ of the family," Lori stressed. Turning her attention back to her comedic sibling, Lori asked, "Did you think I'd appreciate being made to look like I farted in front of everyone?! That I'd appreciate being embarrassed like that?!"

"Well what about all the times our sisters and Lincoln laughed because I had a pie thrown in my face?" Luan asked.

"You did all of that to yourself," the oldest Loud sibling pointed out, "Knowingly, intentionally and willingly. Did _I_ have any say in being pranked during breakfast yesterday? Did _I_ find any amusement in being made to look like I farted in front of the family? Well?" Luan's gaze slowly fell to the ground, as the comedic Loud was unable to look Lori in the face. "And worse yet," Lori continued, "That happened right after I was convinced to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Excuse me?" Luan said in a mildly confused tone, turning her gaze back up to Lori.

"You decide, seemingly out of the blue, to make breakfast for the whole family one morning?" Lori explained, "I had a strong feeling that you were up to some sort of prank. But Lincoln, of all people, convinced me that you were acting in good faith. So yeah, not only did you literally tick me off by pranking me like that, but you disappointed Lincoln because he stuck his neck out for you, only for you to end up proving me right anyway."

"She…does have a point, dude," Luna said to Luan, "Our bro was totally vouching for you, but you ended up totally wasting his efforts."

"I…" Luan said, but stopped short as what her sisters were telling her began to sink in. Luan had no idea how badly she messed things up with her siblings, how much damage a simple whoopee cushion was capable of causing. The comedic Loud sibling had hoped that a little laughter would have brightened up everyone's day and would have been a great start to breakfast, but instead, she ended up causing some of her siblings to be disappointed with her.

"I'm…I'm sorry," Luan apologized in a sad tone, "I didn't know that-"

"That's right," Lori interrupted in a vindictive tone, "You _didn_ ' _t_ know."

"Woah there, Lori," Luna butted in, "There's no need to be like that with Luan, dude. The girl said that she was sorry, alright?"

"…Fine," Lori replied, "I'll let it go this time, but only because we still have a job to do for dad, and we really don't have the time for drama like this."

"Yeah," Luna remarked, "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back home."

Luan didn't say anything, although she did nod in agreement. The three Loud sisters proceeded to take care of the job that their dad had asked them to do, then when that was taken care of, they all piled into Vanzilla to head off to the mall to pick up Leni before they would make their way back home.

* * *

After picking Leni up from the Royal Woods mall, the girls were making their way back home. "I found this pair of pumps that are, like, totes cute," Leni remarked as she was telling her sisters about her shopping trip, "Trust me, you girls are going to flip when you see me try them on later when we get home. Oh, I also found a new Winter scarf for Linky that I bet-"

"Wait a minute," Luna interrupted, "You got Lincoln a new Winter scarf? Doesn't the little dude already have that aqua-colored one?"

"Well yeah," Leni replied, "But that aqua scarf stands out way too much against Linky's hat, coat and boots. So, when I saw a boy's Winter scarf in orange, I decided to spring for it because I just knew Linky would love it!"

"Well isn't that sweet of you, Leni," Lori remarked, "Granted, Lincoln won't be needing to wear a scarf for a while yet, and I'm mildly surprised that Winter scarves can be bought at this time of year, but this still goes to prove that you're just too good to us. And you do have a point about Lincoln liking that orange scarf, since orange is his favorite color."

"Thanks, Lori," Leni replied, "You know, the kiosk that I bought the scarf for Linky from also had scarves in the same color as your tank-top. You want I should pick one up for you the next time I go to the mall?"

"That isn't necessary, but thank you," Lori said, "Although I may have to go with you to the mall next time you go, because I heard that there's this new frozen yogurt booth in the food court, and I want to try it."

"Ooh, frozen yogurt sounds right now," Leni said suddenly, "We should, like, get some!"

"How about you two get some the next time you head to the mall?" Luna suggested, "We need to get going home pronto. It's almost time for dinner."

"Oh yeah," Luan said, "Dad said something about trying another one of the recipes from the cookbook he forgot to return to Mrs. Santiago before…she…" The comedic Loud sibling trailed off as something caught her attention. Luan's older sisters, all of them having seen what Luan was looking at, could not blame her for trailing of the way she did.

There were two police cars and an ambulance parked along the sidewalk outside of their family's home. There was also a black sports car parked next to one of the police cars; a police officer and a man, presumably the owner of the sports car, were seen arguing about something. "What the heck is going on here?" Luna asked as Vanzilla slowly pulled up to the Loud family's residence. When it did, another police officer came up to them.

"Excuse me, but what is your business here?" the police officer asked.

"My sisters and I literally live here, officer," Lori explained, "You can ask our dad if you want."

"Officer, wait!" the familiar voice of Lynn Sr. called out, making the officer talking to Lori turn around to see the Loud patriarch come walking up. "These are some of my daughters, officer," Lynn Sr. said to the police officer, "They're just coming back from taking care of some shopping that I asked them to handle for me. They also picked one of their sisters up from the mall."

"…Alright," the police officer said as he allowed Lori to finish pulling into the driveway. When Vanzilla was parked and shut off, the four oldest Loud siblings got out and approached their father.

"Hey pops, what the heck is going on here?" Luna asked, "What's up with the police cars and the ambulance?"

Sighing in a resigned tone, Lynn Sr. said, "There's…no easy way to say this, especially given everything else he's been through over the last-"

"Did something happen to Lincoln?" Lori interrupted in a worried tone, instantly realizing what her dad was about to say.

"Unfortunately, yes," the police officer said as he turned to face Lori, "According to eye witnesses, Lincoln Loud, who I am going to assume is your younger brother, was taking a trash bag out to the garbage cans on the curb in front of the house when the sports car over there came in and hit him." The girls all gasped in shock, with Leni even beginning to cry.

"Thankfully," the police officer continued, "The sports car didn't hit your brother hard enough to cause any significant damage, and he was only thrown about seven feet forward where he ended up tumbling on the ground. However, he did suffer a nasty scrape that will require treatment at Royal Woods General."

"From what the paramedics in the ambulance told me, Lincoln should be treated before the day is out," Lynn Sr. said to his daughters, "Heck, he may even get out before dinner!"

"Well that's literally a relief," Lori said as she sighed in relief. Luna and Luan also sighed in relief, and Leni's crying even started to simmer down.

"Sir," the officer began as he turned to face Lynn Sr., "I'm assuming that you're going to want to press charges against the man who hit your son?"

"You bet that I want to press charges against that bastard," Lynn Sr. declared in a firm tone, "No one hits any of my children with a car and gets away with it!" The police officer and Lynn Sr. then began to walk and talk, to go over the process of Lynn Sr. pressing charges, leaving the four oldest Loud girls where they were.

"This is literally the lamest thing ever!" Lori declared as her temper started to rise a bit, "Lincoln needed treatment at the hospital three times in just a little over a month, getting close to two! I hope that dad sues the man who hit Lincoln for every last penny he's got!"

"Yeah," Luan agreed, "By the time that dad gets through with him, the man who hit Lincoln will be so poor that-" The comedic Loud sibling stopped mid-joke when her gaze fell upon where another police officer was arguing with the man who hit Lincoln with his sports car. What Luan saw shocked her.

It was the very same man who Luan had bumped into on her way back from the party yesterday.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER SEVEN

Author's notes:

Alright, confession time; Luan is a rather difficult character for me to write for. Even so, I want to do right by Luan's character, so the next chapter will see Luan at her best. …And by that, I mean her most _terrifying_. Also, if any of you want to know why Leni and Lana both have a liking for peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwiches now, the answer can be found in the collection of Loud House one shots. Events that occur in the one-shot collection WILL be referenced in this story, such as why Flip's store was shut down for an as of yet undetermined amount of time.

P.S.: In case no one has noticed, I edited one scene in the previous chapter (chapter six) to make the Loud siblings come off as much less mean spirited while they were watching the news.


	8. Chapter 8

Pre-chapter author's note: I saw from some of the comments that there's concern that, for three arcs in a row, Lincoln has been in incidents that required trips to the hospital. Let me assure everyone that, in total, Lincoln will only go through FOUR incidents that result in trips to Royal Woods General over the entire course of this story, and he's already gone through _three_ of those four incidents (I won't say when the fourth and final trip will occur, though). Also, _a lot_ of the antagonists that will appear in this story will end up living, although _ALL_ of the antagonists will still be very much punished to some degree (again, I won't say who gets what fate). Without further ado, here's chapter eight.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter eight: The Final Punchline part two- These two people are in a building…

Lynn Loud Sr., the patriarch of the Loud family, was thinking that it was probably a good thing that Rita, his wife, along with their youngest child Lily, were still stuck over in California due to the sheer incompetence of the airlines that was going on right now. If the Loud matriarch had been present for the past month to month and a half, she'd he hysterical at this point. But then again, as she is the mother of their children, Lynn Sr. could not blame Rita if she got like that.

After all, this was the third time within short order that Lincoln, Lynn Sr.'s and Rita's only son, had to go to the hospital due to suffering an injury of some sort.

Granted, this third time was a very minor incident, and Lincoln was home before the day was out, but it still didn't change the fact that not only did Lincoln require treatment at the hospital anyway, but that on this third time, Lynn Sr. was taking the person responsible for injuring his son to court. Never let it be said that Lynn Sr. does not take charge of things when it's time for him to step up and carry out his duties as the Loud family patriarch.

At least Lynn Sr., despite his wife and infant daughter being on the far side of the country at the moment, was not lacking for assistance in looking after Lincoln.

In house at the moment were Lynn Sr.'s and Rita's other daughters. And by 'other daughters', I meant a total of _nine_ girls ranging in age from four to seventeen, all of which were keen on making sure that their only brother got better. Each girl reacted to their brother's latest injury in their own unique ways, too.

Lori, the oldest among the Loud siblings, was swearing to literally get ahold of the man who had hit Lincoln and turn said man into a human pretzel. Lynn Jr., the family athlete, was also swearing to use violence against the man who had hurt her brother, albeit using different threats than the standard threat that had become a staple in Lori's repertoire of threats.

Lisa, the family's resident genius, was taking a look at the injury that Lincoln had suffered to see the extent of the damage and how long she expected him to take to recover. Lisa was also taking the liberty of looking at Lincoln's various other injuries that he had suffered as of late. Lola and Lana, the twins, had taken to acting as Lincoln's security, wearing yellow sashes, sunglasses and carrying one golf club each.

Luna, the family's resident musician and (arguably) the sister closest to Lincoln, was in the garage jamming out on her electric guitar; the recent happenings have left the musical Loud sibling upset, and she was attempting to drown out her sorrows. Lucy, a goth girl who is something of a poet, was in the vents of the Loud residence, writing in poem form about how she was feeling in one of her books. Leni, the family fashionista, firmly believing that love and hugs will heal her little brother, was sitting on the sofa with Lincoln, hugging him.

Luan, the family's resident comedy expert, was alone in the bedroom she shared with Luna.

The comedic Loud sibling was just as upset with what her brother was going through as the rest of the family, but she was also upset for another reason. Luan was upset with herself, and she only had herself to blame for feeling that way; a few mornings ago, Luan decided to make breakfast for the entire family, seemingly out of the blue. Taking a look at things, Luan's siblings and father thought that Luan was acting in good faith. Lori was not entirely convinced, however, and it took some effort on Lincoln's part to get the oldest Loud sibling to give Luan a chance.

But it was all for nothing, as making and setting up breakfast was part of an elaborate prank that Luan had set up just to get Lori to sit down in a chair that had a whoopee cushion hidden under its chair cushion. Upon Lori seemingly cutting the cheese, most of the family started laughing, especially since Lori, who was barefoot at the time due to just getting up out of bed, could not fall back on her usual excuse of blaming the noise on her shoes. This prank had made Lori upset with Luan for very understandable reasons, as well as make Lincoln disappointed in his comedic older sister since he stuck his neck out for her.

Luan, to her credit, realized that she had screwed up big time, and thus wanted time to herself so that she could reflect upon what she had done.

It was not Luan's intention to make any of her family members upset or disappointed with her. Oh no, that is never Luan's intention at all. All she honestly wanted to do was to get everyone laughing, to put a smile on everyone's faces. But the comedic Loud sibling made something of a mistake; she only considered how the family _as a whole_ would react to her latest prank. Luan had failed to take how _each individual_ family member would react into consideration. As Luan says from time to time, something is only funny if everyone is laughing.

But not everyone was laughing at Luan's prank.

Luan had failed to take everything into consideration, and as a result, she had earned scorn from Lori and disappointment from Lincoln. Luan hated herself for making her siblings upset with her once again. She knew she had to make things right, but given what happened with Lincoln getting hit by that car, would Lori and especially Lincoln be willing to hear her apology for upsetting and disappointing them respectively? There was only one real way to find out.

…

The first sibling Luan wanted to try to make peace with was Lincoln, and that was for multiple reasons. One was that it stung at Luan more if someone was disappointed than if someone was merely upset with her. Two, Luan figured that Lincoln, being the nice kid that he was, would be more willing to hear Luan out, and might even try to convince Lori to hear Luan out afterwards.

And three, Luan was really worried about the shape that her little brother was in right now.

Walking down the stairs to the first floor of the Loud family's house, Luan made a turn and went into the living room, where she saw Lincoln sitting on the sofa with Leni and Luna, the later apparently having decided to come back in after jamming out to try and lose herself a bit. From what she was hearing before she turned to enter the living room, Luan figured that the news was on, and that theory was confirmed when Luan actually entered the living room.

Luan, gathering up some resolve first, attempted to walk over to Lincoln. The operative word here being _attempted_. The comedic Loud sibling only made one step into the living room before she was confronted by the twins, still in their 'security' get-up. "Hold it," Lana said as she held a hand out in a gesture signaling for Luan to stop, "What's your name and rank?"

"It's me, Luan," the fourteen-year-old Loud girl replied in a mildly confused tone, "You know, your older sister?"

"Then how come I don't see any bars on your uniform?" Lola asked.

"That does sound pretty suspicious, now that you mention it," Lana remarked to her younger twin sister.

"What's going on this time?" Lincoln asked as he, Luna and Leni turned to face where Luan and the twins were at, having heard the commotion.

Jerking a thumb at Luan, Lola said to Lincoln, "This civilian here claims that she's our older sister. You want we should interrogate her?"

Sighing, Lincoln said, "Lola, Lana, just let Luan go." Hesitant at first, the twins nonetheless respected their older brother's request and allowed Luan to pass. The two six-year-olds proceeded to patrol around the house. "Sorry about that," Lincoln said to Luan, "They did something similar a while ago to Lynn. So anywho, what can I help you with?"

"Actually, Lincoln," Luan replied in an apprehensive tone, "I'm here because I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"…That I was hit by some jerk driving a sports car?" Lincoln guessed.

"Well, that," Luan admitted, "But mostly because of how I disappointed you."

"Wait, you disappointed Linky?" Leni said in a confused tone, "What did you do?"

"I think I know what this is about," Luna said to her older sister. Turning to face her younger sister, Luna said, "You're apologizing for that prank you pulled during breakfast a few mornings ago, aren't you?"

"Yeah, you hit the nail right on the head," Luan admitted.

"Well, you're right about me being disappointed," Lincoln remarked to his comedic older sibling, "I mean, I thought you were seriously doing something nice for everyone. When Lori suspected that you were up to something, I convinced her that you weren't because I legitimately believed that you were acting in good faith. So, as you can imagine, when Lori sat on that hidden whoopee cushion, I wasn't all that happy with it."

"But I wasn't really trying to make anyone upset with me," Luan said, "Honest!"

"Dude, you know how Lori doesn't like it when someone accuses her of breaking wind," Luna said, "Even when she totally does it."

"Maybe in the future, you can refrain from trying to pull fart-related pranks on Lori," Lincoln suggested to Luan, "That way, you don't upset her. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan," Luan remarked.

"There we go," Lincoln said, "Now then, I'm going to guess that you'll want to apologize to Lori next, but you're afraid that she won't hear you out or let you explain yourself?"

"…Pretty much, yeah," the comedic Loud sibling admitted at length.

"Well why don't I go up with you?" Lincoln offered, "Lori is up in her and Leni's room right now, so we can knock on the door and ask to speak with her."

"Oh, I need to, like, get something from me and Lori's room," Leni said, "Is it okay if I come along as well?"

"Umm," Lincoln replied in a mildly confused tone, "I don't really see how you need my permission to come along, Leni. The room that we're heading up to is partly yours."

"In fact," Luna added as she spoke to her older sister, "If you go along with Lincoln and Luan, then it might make things easier for them."

"Got it!" Leni said. To Lincoln and Luan, the fashionable Loud sibling said, "So what are we, like, waiting for? Let's go!" Lincoln and Luan proceeded to follow their ditzy older sister up the stairs and to her and Lori's room so that they can get Lori to at least hear Luan out and listen as she tries to apologize.

* * *

The day of the court appearance had come, and Lynn Sr. had kept his word about taking the man who had hit Lincoln to court. The man, who was named Steven, was well-dressed for his appearance in court; he wore a formal suit of light gray, a white dress shirt underneath the suit top, a black tie, and shiny black dress shoes. His black hair was slicked back, and he had even shaved his face to look more presentable.

The only one of Lynn Sr.'s kids who was present at court was Lincoln, and that was because he was the one who was injured in the incident. The sole Loud boy was nervous about being in court like this, and it showed. However, being both a child and the victim of the incident that was the subject of this court appearance earned Lincoln some sympathy from the people who were watching the court case, as well as a few members of the jury.

It seemed that with all things considered, that Lynn Sr.'s lawyer would win this case for his client, and that the plaintiff Steven would be forced to account for his wrongdoing on this matter, starting with paying the Loud family the financial compensation that the court was going to order him to pay out. The first thing Lynn Sr. intended to do with that money was cover the remainder of Lincoln's medical expenses.

…So naturally, it came as a complete and total shock that, despite multiple eye witnesses confirming that Steven did in fact hit Lincoln with his sports car, that the plaintiff got a non-guilty verdict from the jury, although four of the jury members didn't seem too happy with the verdict that they had to give.

Lynn Sr.'s lawyer could not believe that, despite everything clearly working against the plaintiff, that the plaintiff had gotten off anyway, and promptly moved for another trial. With everything down for the time being, Lynn Sr.'s lawyer told his client that he will be seeing him again, and that he was sorry that someone who is very clearly guilty had gotten away with what he did, at least for now.

Looking down to his left, where Lincoln stood, Lynn Sr. said in a sad resigned tone, "Come on, son. Let's go home."

* * *

"THIS IS LITERALLY THE LAMEST THING EVER!" Lori screamed angrily upon being told by her father how the court case worked out.

"Our lawyer moved for a retrial, Lori," Lynn Sr. pointed out to his oldest child, "He clearly saw that something went wrong with the trial today."

"Of course, something went wrong with the trial today, dad," Lori retorted, "That bastard who hit Lincoln is getting away with what he did! Why, I have half a mind to find that man and make him regret that he ever did anything to this family!"

"Losing your temper here will undoubtedly work unfavorably for us," Lisa said to her oldest sibling in her usual dry monotone, "Granted, I myself am in the mood to get ahold of that man and make him pay for what he did, but we have to respect the law and trust that it's working in our best interest."

"Our best interest is seeing that man thrown in prison forever!" Lori nearly screamed, "How the hell did he get a non-guilty verdict anyway, especially given everything dad's lawyer told us?!"

"That's probably why he moved for a retrial," Lisa stated, "It's clear that something is up, and I am glad to see that dad got ahold of a competent lawyer that will see his job done properly."

"But for now, let's put that all to the side," Lynn suggested to her siblings, "I say that we should try to relax a bit. Who's with me?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Lincoln remarked, "I mean, today was pretty tiring for me, not to mention a little bit frightening."

"That's only natural, son," Lynn Sr. remarked, "Heck, being in court was pretty frightening for me, too." Clapping his hands together, Lynn Sr. said, "Anywho kids, today left me pretty worn out, so I'm not much in the mood to cook. How about we just order some pizzas instead?" This suggestion had earned the Loud family patriarch a round of cheers from his children. Although most of the Loud kids were starting to get in a better mood, not _all_ of them were perking up.

The main example of this is Luan.

The comedic Loud sibling could not believe that the man who had hurt her little brother, her _only_ brother, was so far getting away with what he had done. Who cares how well he presented himself in court today? Who cares how good the lawyer that his very rich uncle hired to defend his sorry rear end? That Steven fellow was guilty, plain and simple. And as far as Luan was concerned, Steven is going to be made to answer for what he did to her little brother.

Even if Luan had to do all of the work herself.

* * *

The following afternoon, Steven was hanging out with two friends of his at a bar in Royal Woods. "Dude, that sounds like a pain in the ass if you ask me," one of Steven's friends, a slim mixed-race fellow, remarked before lifting a mug of beer up to his mouth.

"It's annoying, to be sure," Steven replied, "But luckily, it helps when you have a rich uncle who can hire a damn fine lawyer. It didn't hurt my case that my uncle had also bribed some of the jury members as well."

"I'm glad to see that justice is being served!" said Steven's other friend, a well-fed Caucasian fellow with a clean-shaven face. Raising his mug of beer in a toast, the well-fed fellow said, "Here's to the law!" Steven and the slim fellow raised their mugs as well before laughing at the irony of the well-fed fellow's statement.

The three men proceeded to drain their respective mugs dry before ordering more beers. Steven and his two friends talked and drank for about two hours or so before the slim fellow had to call it quits due to having work the following morning.

"Here, lemme coal you a cob," Steven said to his slim friend, his words slurred slightly due to the effects of drinking an ample amount of beer.

"No, no," the well-fed fellow said, "Let me make the call. I'm not yet drunk enough for my words to be mixed up." Steven, swaying slightly from side to side with a drunken look on his face, handed his phone over to his well-fed friend. After the call for a cab was placed, the three guys waited around until the cab showed up so that they can see their slim friend off safely.

"Here, I'll call you a cab too," the well-fed fellow said to Steven.

"No, thash not nesheshary," Steven said, "I can jush wait for mah uncle's shofar to show up to drive me home. Ish no biggie."

"I'd really hate to leave you alone like this, man," Steven's well-fed friend remarked in a concerned tone.

"You warah ta much," Steven remarked drunkenly as he gave a dismissive wave of his hand, "Is okay, mon. I kin look after mahself and not throw ahp in a nerbah trash can ta much. You go on home and tick it eashy."

"Well alright," the well-fed fellow remarked in an unsure tone, not wanting to press the issue any further due to not wanting to upset a clearly drunk person. The well-fed fellow then took his leave, leaving Steven to his own devices.

The young adult man never felt better in his life. Not only did he get out of trouble with the law yet again (his most recent appearance in court was _far_ from his first), but he had a very good buzz going right now as well. The entitled man felt as if nothing could ever go wrong in his life, given that he was protected by the finest veil that ever existed, that being money.

As Steven waited, he slowly started to lose consciousness. Then again, if he hadn't drunken so much beer, he probably wouldn't be passing out right now. As his vision slowly started to close, he saw what he thought was someone walking up to him. The entitled man arrogantly assumed that it was his rich uncle's chauffer, having finally come to pick him up from the bar and take him back to the estate where he can sleep off this drunkenness.

About damn time that the chauffer showed up. Steven didn't like how he had to wait as long as he did; maybe he'll convince his rich uncle to fire this lazy peon and hire someone who can get his ass where he wanted whenever he wanted and as soon as he wanted it. After all, it's the least that Steven thought he deserved.

* * *

When Steven was awoken by a bucket of water splashing him in the face, he immediately realized a number of things. One, the bucket of water that was splashed onto him to wake him up had been set up in the style of that one prank where someone places a bucket of water on top of a door to fall un an unsuspecting victim. Two, looking around, Steven saw that he was in an abandoned warehouse somewhere; he couldn't even be sure if he was still in Royal Woods at this point anymore.

"…If this is that bastard chauffer's idea of a fucking prank, then is ass is fired when I tell my uncle about this," Steven grumbled to himself in an annoyed tone. Steven was about to say something else to himself, but he was cut off when a voice came in on an intercom system of some kind.

"Oh, this is no chauffer's prank, I assure you," a young female voice called out over the intercom system, "Although I still intend to _drive_ you up a wall. Heh, heh, heh, get it?"

"Who the hell are you?" Steven exclaimed in a demanding tone as he looked around, hoping to find a way out while he was steadily starting to lose his cool.

"Don't even bother trying to find an escape," the voice came out over the intercom again, "After all, we've got quite a bit of fun ahead of us. You do like fun, don't you?"

"I don't have time for this twisted fucking bullshit!" Steven screamed, his tone an even mix of anger and fear.

"My, oh my," the voice replied over the intercom, "Don't you have a dirty mouth. I think we ought to wash it out with soap."

"Oh yeah, right" Steven yelled as he walked forward a bit, "Like you can seriously pull a child's punishment like that on m-" Steven was cut off when, due to not looking where he was stepping, he stepped on a bar of soap, causing him to slip forward a bit until he landed in a pile of syrup. After splatting down into the popular pancake topping, Steven stood back up and looked down at himself, groaning in a disgusted tone.

"What the hell is this?!" Steven exclaimed aloud, but before he got his answer, a crate tied to some rope swung in and smacked him to the side, sending him flying into a large pile of breakfast sausages. Getting back up, Steven looked down at himself and saw that the syrup that coated him was causing a great number of the breakfast sausages to cling to him, making him look like some kind of breakfast monster.

A little disoriented due to all of him being thrown around, Steven was wobbling a bit, causing him to walk backwards and step onto a platform. When that happened, Steven heard a mechanical door open behind him. Turning around, Steven saw a garage door-like door rise up. When the door was done going up, Steven saw what was waiting on the other side of it; a large pack of dogs (at least twenty dogs in total). The large pack of dogs included a certain Pitbull Terrier, a certain Corgi, and a certain Tibetan Mastiff. "…Oh crap," Steven muttered to himself as he proceeded to try and run away from the dogs, which proceeded to try and chase him.

Watching Steven being chases by the pack of dogs was Luan, who had her hair down and was wearing an outfit that consisted of a green eye mask that covered most of the upper part of her face, green shoes, and a green long-sleeved shirt and green pair of pants; both the shirt and pants were covered in black question marks. As Luan watched Steven try to run away from the dogs that were chasing him, she thought that _this_ was entertainment, especially the part where Steven, who managed to climb up onto a stack of crates so as to avoid the dogs, was crying hysterically like a frightened little school girl (Luan even saw that Steven was pissing himself out of sheer fright).

Luan would normally record this, as she tends to have video recordings of all of her good pranks, but she didn't want to have any possible evidence linking her to this event; she took all of the appropriate steps, so she was sure that she would not get caught. Still, Luan was going to keep this time in her mind for quite a while yet. The time she got some payback on the man who dared to hurt her little brother.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER EIGHT

Author's notes:

…Yeah, don't do any serious harm to Luan's little brother if you know what's good for you. Anywho, I tried to write Steven as an adult version of Chandler who never changed his attitude, never shows remorse, and so-on and so-forth; basically, it's Chandler, only worse. Not quite sure how good of a job I did in that regard, though. Also, I'd like to give a shout out to DreadedCandiru2 (I hope that I got that right) for giving me the idea that I used for Luan getting back at her antagonist; granted, he didn't specifically mention the exact prank that I had Luan go for here, and I'm removing the part about the perma-suicide watch, but it's still a good idea nonetheless. And another shout out to Hatoralo (I hope I got that right) for giving me the idea to have Luan give off a Riddler-esque vibe.

Also, before anyone says anything, let me just say this; Steven is going to live. Granted, he'll have a rather bad case of Cynophobia (fear of dogs) for the rest of his life and he's going to wind up captured by police real soon, but the important part is that Steven is going to live.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter nine: The Final Punchline part three- A girl makes things right with her siblings…

The Loud siblings all woke up one morning a day or two after the first trial where the man who had hit Lincoln, Steven, managed to avoid justice. The siblings all greeted each other as they came out of their respective rooms. However, two things were caught by the perceptive eyes of four-year-old Lisa Loud; one, her older sister Luna had a confused look on her face, and two, Luna came out of her room alone, even though she should have been accompanied by their sister Luan, who is Luna's roommate.

"Excuse me, Luna," Lisa began when she approached Luna, "But I don't suppose you can account for Luan's absence this morning, can you?"

"Yeah, doesn't she usually come out of the bedroom with you at around the same time everyone else leaves their rooms?" Lola asked, a hint of suspicion in her tone.

Shrugging, the musical Loud sibling replied, "You guys tell me where Luan's at and we'll all know."

"I bet that she's literally preparing another one of her stupid pranks," Lori remarked in a confident tone.

"After the talk that we had with Luan the last time she pulled an early morning prank, I'm doubting that she's going to try that again anytime soon," Lincoln said, "I think that we really got through to Luan, Lori."

"Hey kids," Lynn Sr. the father of the Loud siblings, called up the stairs, "Luan made breakfast for all of us again!"

"…This is literally another prank just waiting to happen, Lincoln," Lori said to the sole Loud boy as all of the siblings filed down the stairs, "Mark my words."

* * *

Downstairs in the dining room, the table had been set up just like it was during Luan's prank a few mornings ago, where she made it look like Lori passed gas without the excuse of being able to blame it on her shoes, or some other footwear. The breakfasts at each place were also prepared ahead of time, just like with the aforementioned prank. Standing near the one end of the table closest to the entry to the dining room was Luan.

"What are you up to this time, Luan?" Lori asked in an accusatory tone.

"Nothing, I swear," Luan replied in a mildly tired tone, "I wanted to try making breakfast for everyone again, this time without any pranks involved." Lori leaned to her side slightly to take a look at the chairs at the table; from what she saw, none of the chair cushions looked like they were raised slightly, which would have given away that they were hiding a whoopee cushion. Well, the chairs on the side of the table Lori could see.

Straightening herself back out, Lori said, "You better not have anything planned this time, or I swear I will literally turn you into a human pretzel."

"Scout's honor," Luan replied as she held a hand over her chest while raising the other hand.

"Pfft, like you were ever a scout," Lola remarked.

"Yeah, leave scouting to us professionals," Lana added, her tone similar to that of her twin's.

After that little bit of banter, the Loud family all took their seats at the table. When no farts were heard upon everyone sitting down, Lori relaxed visibly. However, the oldest Loud sibling tensed back up instantly when she heard Lincoln say, "Hey Luan, no offence, but why do my pancakes look a little weird?"

"Aha!" Lori exclaimed as she pointed accusingly at Luan, "You _did_ do something!"

"It's not that," Luan replied, "It was my first go at trying to make pancakes with little bits of marshmallows in them."

"You put marshmallows in Lincoln's pancakes?" Lynn Sr. asked his comedic daughter.

"And chocolate chips," Luan confirmed, "I mean, with all that Lincoln's been going through over the last one to two months, I figured that he deserved something a little extra."

Curious, Lincoln took his fork, sliced off a bit of pancake with marshmallow and chocolate chips in it, and ate it. Upon tasting the sweet bite of pancake, Lincoln's eyes widened with surprise. Swallowing his mouthful of pancake first, Lincoln said, "Wow, Luan, this is pretty amazing! Thanks!"

"You're welcome," Luan replied, "I'm glad that you liked it."

"Wow, pancakes with bits of marshmallow and chocolate chips in them," Lola whispered to Lana, "How cool is that?"

"I'll admit, it sounds pretty sweet," Lana whispered back, "Both figuratively and literally."

…

Later that morning, after breakfast was done, the Loud siblings got themselves dressed and ready to face the day. When Luan came walking down the stairs, she was surprised when Leni and Luna came up to her quickly. "The mean guy who hurt Linky with a car is on the news, Luan!" Leni said as she pointed in the direction of the living room, "They say that he's arrested!"

"What?!" Luan replied, looking totally shocked. However, this was all flawless acting on the comedic Loud sibling's part; she knew full well that Steven, the man who had hit Lincoln with a sports car, was going to be arrested. After all, with all of the dogs that had him trapped up on a stack of crates in that warehouse somewhere in Royal Woods (Luan managed to get Charles, Fenrir and Carol's Corgi back to their respective homes before their owners noticed that they were missing), it was only a matter of time until police came by, found the commotion, rescued Steven, and promptly arrested him on trespassing charges.

Luan knew that Steven was going to be arrested because _she_ was the one who left him in the state that he was found in.

And it was a good thing too that Luan took every precaution; she wore gloves, protective gear to keep any evidence from accidentally landing on her clothes. Luan had even managed to find the aforementioned abandoned warehouse in a secluded area of town. The place was fully stocked, too; however, Luan had no explanation for why the place was stocked like that.

But it wasn't like Luan's family had to be made aware of all of that.

Regardless, Luan, acting just as shocked and surprised as the rest of her siblings, ran into the living room with Leni and Luna, to see the breaking news report on TV. "…Found huddled up on a stack of crates that was three crates high as he was trying to keep from being attacked by the pack of dogs, which was rounded up by local animal control," the news reporter said, "He was also reportedly covered in syrup and breakfast sausages. When asked on scene what had happened, Steven could not respond properly due to being scares senseless from his experiences the previous night, mumbling random things about being tortured by someone that had a thing for breakfast or something. Evidence gathered from the warehouse had led police to suspect that Wallace Willow, one of the three men involved with the bombing on Royal Woods Elementary School over a month ago and the only one of those men who is still at large, is the one responsible for Steven's condition."

"One of the men who bombed the school that Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, me and Lisa goes to did all of that to the man who hit Lincoln with a car?" Lola said in a questioning tone.

"Yeah," Luan said in a genuine tone of agreement; the comedic Loud sibling did _not_ expect that one of the men that had attacked the elementary school was somehow involved in that warehouse, although it did go quite a way to explain why Luan found a few materials that looked like they were used in bomb-making, as well as various science stuff that Luan couldn't make heads or tails of. The comedic Loud sibling figured that she needed Lisa-level smarts in order to understand all of that nonsense.

"Wallace's motives for kidnapping the nephew of local wealthy business owner Horace Banker remains unknown, although local law enforcement strongly suspects that money was involved in some way," the news reporter went on, "And in a related topic, Horace Banker was arrested on charges of jury tampering when evidence surfaced of him bribing jurors during the recent case where his nephew was on trial due to hitting a local boy with his car. If found guilty, Horace Banker can face between three to five years imprisonment. And now onto the weather. Tom?"

As she turned down the volume on the news, Lori said in an annoyed tone, "So that's why the bastard who hit Lincoln got a not guilty verdict. His rich uncle bribed jurors to vote not guilty."

"Well hey, the rich old bastard is in hot water for it now," Lynn remarked as she leaned back on the sofa, "And the bastard that hit Lincoln was also arrested, albeit for a different reason. I say that this is as good of a victory as we're going to get." Luan merely nodded in agreement with her younger sister, showing no significant emotion on the outside.

"All this talk about bad people who did bad things to Linky is, like, making me feel totes uncomfortable," Leni remarked in a mildly troubled tone, "Can we talk about something that's much nicer now?"

"She's got a point, dudes," Luna said to her siblings while gesturing to Leni, "How about we change things here to a different tune?"

"I think Lynn has a football game today," Lincoln remarked.

"Oh yeah," Lynn said as her tone pepped up a bit, "The game that my team was supposed to have a while ago was rescheduled to today! You all coming to watch me play?"

"I'd love to," Lincoln replied, "Although there is that retrial thing that dad's lawyer called for, and they may need me at the courthouse again to give testimony."

"Is it today?" Lynn asked.

"Dad actually didn't tell me when it's going to be," the sole Loud boy replied with a confused shrug, "So as far as I know, it could happen at any time."

"Well why don't we ask dad if he knows when the retrial will be," Lynn suggested, "Better to be safe than sorry." Lincoln nodded in agreement with his sporty older sister before they, along with Leni and Luna, went to go find their dad, leaving Lisa, Lucy, Lori, Luan and the twins in the living room.

"At least she didn't threaten him with a baseball bat this time," Lisa remarked dryly.

"Wait a minute," Lori said in a shocked tone as she did a double-take, "What?!"

"Remember the whole incident where we all suspected Lincoln of being bad luck?" Lisa began, "Well, on the morning of the softball game that Lynn had where all of that shameful nonsense began, my security cameras caught Lynn threatening Lincoln with a baseball bat before the time of the softball game. This is only a theory that I have, but I believe that Lynn was threating to hurt Lincoln unless he attended the softball game, and that if it hadn't been for that, then none of the messy business that followed would have ever taken place."

"LYNN!" Lori bellowed angrily as she stomped out of the room, "I AM LITERALLY GOING TO DESTROY YOU!"

With a knowing smirk, Lisa remarked to herself, "This is going to be fun to watch."

* * *

Luan was walking along the sidewalk later that afternoon as she made her way home. She was getting back from a birthday party that she was hired to perform at; apparently, the Jewish family that had hired the comedic Loud sibling last time told other families in Royal Woods' Jewish community about Luan's skill and quality as a performer, thus opening up a whole new customer base for her. Luan was liking where Funny Business was going with this.

As she came up to her family's house, Luan saw all of her siblings climbing out of Vanzilla, apparently having gotten back from Lynn's football game if the football jersey that the sporty Loud sibling was wearing was any indication. "Sorry about not being able to come watch the game," Luan said in greeting as she got close enough to her siblings for them to hear her, "But I had a birthday party to perform at."

"If it makes you feel any better, you didn't miss anything new," Lana said, "Lynn's team won as per usual, even with the fact that Lynn played with a semi-concussion."

"Lynn suffered a concussion during the game?!" Luan exclaimed out of shock.

"No, Luan," Lincoln remarked as he came walking out from the other side of Vanzilla, "Lynn _went into_ the game with a concussion, or semi-concussion as Lana just called it." The confused look on Luan's face made it all too clear that the comedic Loud sibling needed an explanation.

"Wait a minute," Luan began in a confused tone, "Lynn went into a game with an injury? Why?"

Pointing to Lori, Lincoln replied in a dry tone, "It was Lori's idea."

"What Lynn did before that one softball game of hers from a while ago was literally the dumbest thing ever," Lori stated as she crossed her arms, "I stand by my decision."

"Well aside from the fact that I now have a splitting headache, I'd say that today could not have been more perfect," Lynn said, "Also, did anyone catch the number of that taco truck?"

"Let's get you inside, champ," Lisa said as she led her sporty older sister into their family's place of residence, "We need to get that very mild concussion treated."

"Treat it with a taco," Lynn replied as her little sister lead her inside the house, "Tacos are one of the greatest foods to ever be invented."

"Tacos possess no medicinal quality that current science is aware of," Lisa replied dryly right before she and Lynn entered the house.

After Lisa and Lynn disappeared into the house, Luan turned to face her other siblings. "Well now," Luan said, "I'd say that Lynn's got quite the _header_! Get it?"

"Header, when used in reference to sports, means striking a soccer ball with your head during a soccer game," Lola pointed out, "And we just came back from a football game." After hearing that explanation out of Lola, of all people, the other Loud siblings who were still outside all turned to look at the pageant princess with confused looks on their faces. "…What?" Lola replied when she noticed the looks she was getting from all of her siblings, "Just because I take part in child pageants all the time doesn't mean it's the _only_ thing I'm knowledgeable about."

"Why don't we head inside now?" Leni said to everyone, "It's almost time for dinner, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I am, like, totes hungry."

"Yeah, I could literally go for something to eat myself," Lori remarked, "Come on, everyone, let's head inside. Besides, we ought to see whether or not I did any lasting damage to Lynn."

Following the example of the oldest member of their number, the other Loud siblings proceeded to make their way into their house. "Why did you have to hit Lynn in the first place?" Lincoln asked his oldest sibling, "I said that bad luck incident is water under the bridge."

* * *

That evening after dinner, the Loud siblings went about their usual after-dinner activities. This meant that Lincoln could be found in his room, playing on a handheld video game system. As Lincoln got his character through another boss fight, he heard a gentle knocking on his bedroom door. "Come in," Lincoln called out as he paused his game and set the handheld game system off to the side. As Lincoln did this, Luan opened the door and let herself in. "Oh, hey Luan," Lincoln greeted in a friendly tone, "What's up?"

"Oh, I just wanted to check in on you," Luan replied, "Wanted to see how my favorite assistant for Funny Business was doing."

"I…don't think that I've recovered enough to help you out with Funny Business again," Lincoln remarked, "Although I wish I had recovered enough for that by now." Flopping over onto his bed, Lincoln said, "All the time as of late that I've had to spend at home recovering is boring."

"Well don't you worry, Lincoln," Luan declared in a confidant, mildly perky tone. Luan walked out of Lincoln room for a second before returning, pulling a wagon containing a lot of her props that she uses in her performances at birthday parties that she's hired to perform at. "Because you are going to be the only audience member of a private performance of the latest routine that I've come up with," Luan said as she pointed at her younger brother, "I hope you're ready to bust a gut, because this act will make you roll over with-"

Luan stopped midsentence when she noticed that Lincoln, to her shock, was actually crying. He wasn't wailing out loud, mind you, it was just tears rolling down the sides of his face. "Hey Lincoln," Luan began in a gentle, concerned tone, "Why are you crying? I didn't do anything to upset you, did I?"

"No, no," the sole Loud boy replied with a gentle shake of his head, "It's not that, Luan. It's not that at all." Looking directly at his comedic sister's face, Lincoln said as the tears continued to roll down his face, "Doing this for me, as well as everything else that you and the rest of our family has done for me over the last one to two months, I…" Lincoln stopped short to sniffle a little bit. "…I just don't know what to say," Lincoln replied, "Other than thanks."

Luan, her heart having been touched by her little brother's teary-eyed expression of gratitude, walked up to Lincoln's bed, sat down next to him, gently threw her arms around the sole Loud boy's shoulders, and drew him into a warm, gentle hug. "There's no need to thank me, or anyone else," Luan said in a gentle tone, "You're both a brother and a son to this family, and we'll always have your back, just as we're sure you'd always have ours."

"If I ever get a chance to show it," Lincoln remarked as he started to return Luan's hug.

"Heh," Luan chuckled softly, "I'm sure you'll find that chance someday, Lincoln. You're a lot smarter than most people would give you credit for."

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER NINE

Author's notes:

Well, there you have it. The end of chapter nine and the end of Luan's time in the spotlight. I had a feeling going into this story that Luan would be one of the most challenging Loud sisters, if not _the_ most challenging, for me to write for, but I would like to think that I managed to wrap things up well enough. Anywho, as I started writing the first scene of this chapter, I realized something that the first three arcs all have in common; when boiled down to their most basic premise, they're all about an _older_ sister getting revenge for something that happened to her _younger_ brother. That's why the next part of this story, starting in the next chapter, is going to take that premise and turn it around; it will be about a _younger_ sister getting revenge for something that happened to her _older_ brother.

Next time: Mad Science


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter ten: Mad Science part one- The burden of genius

If one was familiar with Lisa Loud, then they would not expect the four-year-old genius to spend any significant time outside in her family's backyard; they would sooner expect her to be holed up in the bedroom that she shared with her baby sister Lily who, along with the Loud family matriarch Rita, was still stuck out in California due to the sheer incompetence that the airlines were showing right now.

But this is getting off subject. Lisa was in her family's backyard because she was, as usual, up to one of her many, many experiments. The reason why the brainy Loud sibling was in the backyard was because the experiment she was conducting required as much space as possible, space that simply wasn't available in her and Lily's room. Additionally, her two test subjects would most likely make a mess of things if they were in her and Lily's room.

Lisa's first test subject was Charles, a Pitbull Terrier and the Loud family's pet dog. He was sitting on the ground next to Lisa's other test subject, another dog who was far greater in size compared to the surprisingly small Charles. This other dog was a young adult male Tibetan Mastiff that had recently reached his full size. The two dogs sat next to each other obediently as Lisa approached them while carrying a small treat box.

"I would first like to thank the both of you for your time," Lisa said to the two dogs, "I am glad to see that dogs aren't only best friends to men, but to girls as well." Holding up the box she was holding, Lisa continued, "Now then, let's get on with the experiment, shall we? Now, as we all know, dog biscuits are made specifically for dogs. However, some humans, such as my older sister Lana, have been known to consume dog biscuits anyway. This got me thinking; what if there was a snack that was made while taking humans and dogs into equal consideration?"

Gesturing to the box that she held with her other hand, Lisa remarked, "That's where these experimental biscuits come from. Now, I already gave one to my aforementioned sister Lana, who approved of the formula that went into making these, so I have confirmation that some humans will find these experimental biscuits to be edible. Now all that remains is to see if members of your kind are willing to eat them as well."

The brainy Loud sibling took two of the experimental biscuits out of the box and tossed one each to Charles and the Tibetan Mastiff. The two dogs leapt up to grab the biscuits that were tossed to them respectively, and they both happily ate away. Smiling at the display, Lisa said, "I'm glad to see that I have two more votes on confidence in the formula for my experimental-" Lisa found herself cut off when Leni, her older sister and intellectual opposite, entered the backyard. With Leni at the time was Aggro Ace, a friend of Lisa and Leni's sister Lori and the Kendo tutor of their brother Lincoln.

Spotting the Tibetan Mastiff, Aggro said to Lisa in a mildly confused tone, "Lisa, what are you doing with Allison's dog?"

"Rest assured that Allison gave me full permission to borrow Fenrir for my latest experiment," Lisa replied.

"Ooh, what are you doing now, Lisa?" Leni asked in a curious tone.

Holding up the box of biscuits she was holding, Lisa explained, "I'm trying to develop a formula for a dog biscuit that can be enjoyed equally by both dogs and humans. I got the idea for it due to Lana sneaking biscuits from the box of dog biscuits we get for Charles from time to time." Upon hearing that someone has been sneaking biscuits from a box of biscuits that was supposed to be for _himself_ , Charles made a confused-sounding noise.

"A dog biscuit that both dogs and humans can enjoy equally," the male Ace twin remarked in a tone of mild disbelief while crossing his arms.

Walking up to Leni and Aggro, Lisa held the box of experimental dog biscuits up to them. "Care to try one?" Lisa offered, "I need opinions from other humans than just Lana." Leni and Aggro both exchanged confused, mildly unsure looks before they both reached forward to take a biscuit from the box Lisa held. The two teenagers both bit into their respective biscuits, and after a few seconds, their eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

"Wow, Lisa," Leni remarked, "These biscuits are, like, totes good! In fact, the one I got tastes like vanilla!"

"Huh, the one I got tastes like hazelnut," Aggro said to the fashionable Loud sibling.

"Well I'm glad to see that the experimental flavor formulas that go into the biscuits seem to work," Lisa stated, "I've developed multiple flavor formulas that, to dogs, resemble flavors that they're used to in the various treats that are given to them. Dogs should taste flavors such as chicken, liver and beef from these biscuits. However, to humans, the flavors should resemble popular flavors of coffee creamers, such as the French Vanilla that Leni got and the hazelnut that Aggro got. Lana said that she got caramel."

"…Impressive," Aggro remarked, surprised that Lisa is able to pull off inventing formulas such as the ones she said went into the biscuits she made.

"I'm going to need to try these biscuits out on a few more dogs and humans before I can say for certain whether or not this experiment is a success," Lisa said, "But from all of the positive feedback I've gotten so far, I'd say that this is looking to be yet another success-" The brainy Loud sibling was cut off and gave a yelp of surprise when Fenrir nudged her from behind with his nose. Lisa turned to face the large dog, who proceeded to paw gently at the box of biscuits that she was holding.

"Aww," Leni gushed, "I think he wants another one of your fancy biscuits, Lisa!"

"Well I can see that," Lisa stated in her usual dry monotone as she obliged Fenrir's apparent request for another biscuit.

* * *

Later, Lisa was up in her and Lily's room, going over the flavor formulas that she invented for her experimental biscuits. Satisfied with her double and triple checks, the brainy Loud sibling put all of her supplies related to her latest experiment away, safely and properly, before she walked over to a desk, pulled a drawer open and removed a mechanical pencil and a small spiral bound mini notebook that could fit into most back pockets on pairs of pants. With all of that in hand, Lisa walked out of her room. Making a right turn, Lisa walked over to what was once a linin closet but had been converted into a bedroom for Lisa's brother Lincoln.

Seeing that the door was closed, Lisa knocked on it a few times, not wanting to barge in on her older brother unannounced. "Lincoln, are you in there?" Lisa called out, "I would like to borrow your assistance for a moment, please!" About two seconds later, and the door was opened by Lincoln. The sole Loud boy was wearing a slightly baggy orange t-shirt, a pair of orange sweatpants and a pair of socks.

"What's up, Lisa?" Lincoln asked kindly.

"I don't suppose you're busy at the moment, are you?" Lisa began.

"Well I was getting ready to head to the store with dad to help him pick up something," Lincoln replied, "Why?"

"I'll only be needed about a minute of your time for this, Lincoln," Lisa said.

"Well alright then," Lincoln agreed, "What do you need me to do?"

"Drop your pants," Lisa replied, completely straight-faced. The four-year-old genius's dry monotone made it all too clear that she was being serious.

"I…I beg your pardon?" Lincoln said in a mildly shocked and confused tone.

"Your sweatpants, Lincoln," Lisa reiterated, "Drop them. Drop them as if you're getting ready to read one of your comic books."

"Oh, umm, about that, Lisa," Lincoln began in a mildly unsure and uncomfortable tone, "I've gotten used to keeping my pants on while reading comics. In fact, I've taken to wearing socks whenever I read comics as-"

"I need you to trust me on this, Lincoln," Lisa said, cutting her older brother off midsentence.

Sighing gently in a resigned tone, Lincoln did as his little sister asked and dropped his pants, revealing that most of his left leg was horrifically bruised and covered in scars. Lisa took her mini spiral bound notebook and proceeded to write down various observations that she was making. When she was done, the brainy Loud sibling flipped her mini spiral bound notebook closed, tucking the notebook and her mechanical pencil into the back pockets on her pants.

"That will do, Lincoln," Lisa stated, "Thank you for your time."

"Umm, sure," Lincoln replied in a mildly confused tone as he pulled his sweatpants back up, "No pro-"

"I would also like to…apologize," Lisa said at length, interrupting her older brother again. Hearing this caught the sole Loud boy off guard a bit.

"Apologize?" Lincoln repeated, "What for?"

"I understand that the nature of my request might have made you feel a bit uncomfortable," Lisa explained, "And although I have something in mind with the notes that I just took, that still doesn't excuse the fact that I not only made you drop your pants in the second-floor hallway, but that I might have made you recollect memories that you'd rather leave in the past. That being said, I apologize for any discomfort that I might have made you experience just now."

A small but sincere smile on his face, Lincoln gently patted Lisa's right shoulder. "It's okay, Lisa," the sole Loud boy replied, "Science isn't a comfortable thing all the time, after all."

"Ain't that the truth," Lisa replied, finding some small measure of humor in what Lincoln said about science just now.

"But it's still pretty amazing, if you think about it," Lincoln went on.

"You have no idea how long I've been trying to get everyone-" Lisa began, but now she found herself interrupted by Lincoln, instead of the other way around.

"Especially all of the stuff that you've done, Lisa," Lincoln began, "Seriously. You've made a pair of shoes that lets people walk on the ceiling, cookies that make people glow in the dark when eaten, and a machine that you used to fix your eyesight, which is weird since you still like to wear your glasses anyway." Relaxing a bit, Lincoln said, "You've done some pretty amazing things, Lisa."

The brainy Loud sibling was surprised to find herself flustered by the praise her older brother was giving her. "Well, umm…" Lisa said while at something of a loss for words, "…Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Lincoln."

"No problem," the sole Loud boy replied, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go put on a pair of pants and my shoes." Gesturing to the sweatpants he was wearing, Lincoln said, "I don't think that I can get away with wearing sweatpants to the store."

"It would be a rather bold fashion statement on your part, yes," Lisa agreed in her usual dry monotone as she regained some of her usual cool, "And I believe I speak for the both of us when I say that we should both leave the fashion world to Leni."

"Speaking of Leni," Lincoln said, "She told me that you made some sort of dog biscuit that both humans and dogs can enjoy equally. Is that true?"

"She ended up getting a biscuit that tastes like French Vanilla to humans," Lisa explained. With a look of mild concentration on her face, Lisa added, "If I recall correctly, that particular biscuit would taste like beef to dogs."

"I don't suppose I can try one of them when I get back with dad, can I?" Lincoln replied.

With a mildly amused smile, Lisa said, "The more humans I have try the biscuits, the better. In fact, I believe that I still have some of the-"

"Some of the what now?" Lana's voice said, cutting Lisa off and making both her and Lincoln turn to see Lana standing there. She was holding the box of experimental dog biscuits that Lisa had earlier while chewing on one of the biscuits herself. Finishing the biscuit that she was eating, Lana reached into the box for another, but the tomboyish Loud twin came up empty. "Aww man," Lana remarked, "This box is empty!" Looking to Lisa, Lana asked, "I don't suppose you got another box of these bad boys lying around, do you? They're pretty good."

"…I'll have to make another batch, it seems," Lisa remarked dryly.

* * *

Later that day, after Lisa had set aside some materials that she would be needing for a secret project of hers, she went right to work on getting two more batches of the experimental dog biscuits ready. The reason why she decided to prepare more than just _one_ batch is because of how quickly Lana worked through what should have been a mostly full box. The appetites of some of her sisters have never ceased to pique the brainy Loud sibling's interest.

Right as the biscuits were finished baking, Lisa pulled them out of the super oven she invented, carefully making sure none of them burned while being baked. If it hadn't been for the fact that Lynn Sr., the father of the Loud siblings, pretty much had the kitchen downstairs as his domain, then Lisa wouldn't have had to invent her super oven, even though the super oven bakes twice as quickly and twice as efficiently as the oven in the kitchen on the ground floor.

As she set the latest tray of biscuits to come out of the oven on top of the oven to cool, Lisa heard Vanzilla pull into the driveway since she had her bedroom window open. With the tray set on the oven top, Lisa pulled off her baking mitts, tossed them onto her bed, and removed the apron she was wearing and tossing that onto the bed as well before leaving her room. The brainy Loud sibling placed a sign on her bedroom door that said 'EXPERIMENT IN PROGRESS: DO NOT ENTER' after closing it; she did _not_ want Lana or any of her other sisters with large appetites to come in and eat all the biscuits before they even had a chance to cool. With the sign in place, Lisa went down stairs to greet her father and her older brother.

When Lisa had gotten downstairs, she and her sisters saw that the men of the Loud family had done quite a bit of grocery shopping; then again, given the size of the family, this was pretty much par for the course. "I hope you girls are ready for another new experience," Lynn Sr. said to his daughters, "Because we're going to have fajitas for dinner tonight!"

"You know, we should literally look into somehow getting that cookbook back to Bobby's mom," Lori remarked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Lynn Sr. replied to his oldest child.

"Hey, are those cakes?" Lola asked as she pointed to some of the grocery bags.

"Oh yeah, those were actually Lincoln's idea," the Loud patriarch said.

Nodding in confirmation, Lincoln explained, "Well when I saw that there was a bit of extra money left over, I figured that getting some dessert would be nice. Dad thought that it was a good idea, so we stopped off at the store's bakery section to pick up a few chocolate cakes."

"Chocolate?!" the sisters all said excitedly and in unison with each other.

"Wait a minute," Lana remarked in a mildly confused tone, "Not that I'm complaining about it, because let me make it clear that I am not complaining, but why did you get multiple cakes? Wouldn't one cake cover everything?"

"There are currently eleven people at our place of residence, Lana," Lisa pointed out, "One cake is simply not enough to cover that many people, unless it was either cut into very small pieces and or was a very large cake." Gesturing to the grocery bags that had the cake boxes in them, Lisa went on, "Since our father and brother got multiple cakes, I'm going to assume that there weren't any large cakes where a single one would be able to cover the entirety of the family currently in residence."

"Those cakes were actually on sale," Lynn Sr. pointed out, "But anywho, help me get these grocery bags into the kitchen, alright girls?" The Loud sisters all replied in the affirmative before they went about helping with taking bags into the kitchen so that the groceries could be put away. While the girls were doing this, Lynn Sr. stopped short, then sniffed about the air. "Was one of you girls using the oven while I was gone?" the Loud patriarch asked.

"Not the oven in the kitchen, if that makes you feel any better," Lisa stated dryly.

"What are you talking about, Lisa?" Leni asked, "We only have, like, one oven in the house."

"Not true," Lisa replied as she began to explain, "You see, I invented a super oven that's twice as quick and twice as efficient at baking as the oven in the kitchen. How else do you think I've been able to prepare the experimental dog biscuits that I've created?"

"You have an oven in your room, Lisa?" Lynn Sr. asked his genius daughter.

"Relax, I can disassemble it once I'm done with making the experimental dog biscuits," Lisa replied.

"They're really good, dad," Lana remarked, "Lisa made them so that both humans and dogs can enjoy them equally."

"…" Looking to Lisa, Lynn Sr. said, "…Did you say it's twice as efficient _and_ twice as quick?"

"It also uses half as much electricity and it is half as likely to result in burning the food you're trying to prepare on or in it," Lisa explained.

"I…don't suppose you can do the same to the oven in the kitchen, can you?" Lynn Sr. asked, looking mildly hopeful.

With a knowing smile, Lisa replied, "It'll take some time, so I would suggest waiting until tomorrow to have me work on upgrading the oven in the kitchen." With a look of consideration on her face, Lisa added, "Although if what you've been saying about the oven in the kitchen is true, then it may be better for me to replace it with the super oven in my room altogether."

"Well in that case, dinner should be ready in about an hour," Lynn Sr. said to his kids.

"Oh, we got time," Luna said to her dad, "Well, I know that I got time. I was figuring that I should get some more music practice in."

"I literally have to text Bobby," Lori remarked in a worried tone, "He told me that one of his and Ronnie Anne's cousins has gone missing, and that his family has been going all over their town for a while trying to find him."

"One of their cousins has gone missing?" Lincoln remarked in a shocked tone, "Who is it?"

With a gentle shake of her head, Lori replied, "I don't remember which one my Boo-Boo Bear told me it was. All I know is that it's one of the boys."

"Well that is just terrible," Lincoln said in a concerned tone, "I hope they find their missing cousin soon. I wish I could do something to help."

"I literally agree with you, but it's kind of out of our way," Lori remarked, "Although I'm certain that both Bobby and Ronnie Anne would appreciate the moral support." The sole Loud boy gave a nod of agreement before he and the rest of the Loud family finished going about putting the groceries away.

* * *

The following day, Lisa was in the kitchen, having just finished up replacing the oven in the kitchen with the super oven she invented for the purpose of baking her experimental dog biscuits. Standing next to the brainy Loud sibling was Lynn Sr. "There you go, father," Lisa said as she got up off of the floor, "The super oven is ready to go."

"This ought to make getting dinner ready even better!" the loud patriarch remarked with more than a hint of excitement in his tone, "Thanks again, Lisa!"

"If possible, I don't suppose we can try that enchilada recipe from Mrs. Santiago's cookbook again, can we?" Lisa asked, "The last time we had it, it was rather-" Lisa was cut off when there was a knock at the front door. Lynn Sr. went to answer the door, with Lisa following along out of curiosity that was part in due to Lisa being a genius and wanting to know as much as possible and the rest due to Lisa being a four-year-old child; genius or no, a four-year-old child will always be curious.

To the surprise and mild concern of Lynn Sr. and Lisa, a police officer was standing at the front door. "Excuse me, sir," the police officer said as he spoke to the Loud family patriarch, "But are you Lynn Loud Sr., the owner of a green and white multi-passenger van made between the 1964 and 1970?"

"Yes, officer," Lynn Sr. replied, "My oldest daughter Lori was using it to pick something up for me from the hardware store. She also brought her younger brother Lincoln along because she figured that she'd take him to the comic book store." Looking concerned, Lynn Sr. asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"Huh," the police officer remarked mostly to himself, "So that explains the teenager and the kid." To Lynn Sr., the police officer continued, "I'm sorry to inform you about this, but your van has just been involved in a traffic accident."

"Traffic accident?!" Lynn Sr. exclaimed in alarm, "What happened?!"

"According to eye witnesses, a red car rammed your van on its right side, causing it to plow into a traffic light and knock it over," the police officer explained, "Not only did the red car drive off after hitting your van, but witnesses were unfortunately unable to get a good look at the license plates on the red car before it took off."

"What about my kids?!" Lynn Sr. asked as his worry grew, "Are they okay?"

"Even though your son was sitting on the side of the van that was hit, he wasn't injured," the police officer said, "At least not enough to warrant a trip to the hospital; paramedics on scene were able to give him the necessary treatment. As for your daughter, she was rattled by the experience but got over it quickly enough." Jerking a thumb over his shoulder, the police officer continued, "I can give you a lift to the Royal Woods Police Department where your son and daughter are waiting to be picked up. Your van was taken to the police impound lot since it was involved in a crime, but once evidence is gathered, we can have your van repaired and returned to you."

"Thank you, officer," Lynn Sr. replied, "Let me just inform my other kids that I'll be heading out for a while and why."

"I'll be waiting out by my cruiser," the police officer remarked as he nodded in agreement, "If it's any consolation, I'm terribly sorry about all of this." As the police officer turned to walk out to his cruiser, Lynn Sr. closed the door and turned around.

"Father," Lisa said as she looked up at the Loud patriarch, more than a hint of worry seeping through into her usual dry monotone, "Will my siblings involved in this matter be okay?"

"From what the police officer just told me, Lori and Lincoln will be just fine," Lynn Sr. replied to his four-year-old daughter. Lynn Sr. finished right explaining what he was going to have to do before he went about summoning the rest of his daughters to the living room to tell them what's going on and what he has to go take care of. Leaving his two oldest daughters in charge while he was gone, Lynn Sr. took his leave with the police officer, leaving the other Loud sisters mildly freaking out, worried about what had happened.

Lisa was especially worried.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER 10

Author's notes:

Now that it's Lisa's turn to be in the spotlight, she's going to have a go at making an antagonist pay for what said antagonist had done. However, unlike her sisters before her (or her sisters that will come after her), Lisa has a genius-level intellect. She is going to be putting that genius-level intellect to good use, mark my words.

As a side note, the little bit about one of Bobby and Ronnie Anne's cousins going missing is something of a subplot for the story as a whole that I put in because drama. I haven't decided yet where I'm going to go with this plot, though. I also haven't decided which cousin should be the one to have gone missing yet, nor have I settled on the missing cousin's ultimate fate. All that I determined is that Carlota is not the cousin that went missing.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter eleven: Mad Science part two- An experiment in vengeance

Most of the Loud sisters were in the living room of their family's house, most of them looking anxious. Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa were sitting around, waiting for their father, Lynn Sr., to come back from a trip that he and a police officer made over to the Royal Woods Police Department, to pick up Lori and Lincoln.

A few hours ago, the family van, which the Loud kids affectionately referred to as Vanzilla, was involved in a traffic accident where a red car hit it on its right side, sending it into the pole of a traffic light which it knocked down. To make matters really bad for the Loud siblings, the oldest among their number, Lori, was driving Vanzilla at the time, and she had Lincoln, their only brother, along as well; Lori was picking something up for Lynn Sr., and she figured that Lincoln would like a trip to the comic book store.

His first in close to two months.

"I can't believe something like this would happen," Lynn remarked in a dejected tone, "I mean, Lori is always a careful diver, isn't she?"

"From what I have been able to gather on the incident, Lori was blindsided," Lisa stated to her older siblings in her usual dry monotone, "No amount of caution and training can prepare anyone for freak accidents. Besides, Lori was only rattled by the experience, which I heard the police officer say she got over quickly enough." Sighing in a resigned tone, the four-year-old genius continued, "However, I am more concerned about our brother, who was hurt in the accident. Thankfully it wasn't bad enough to warrant a trip to the hospital."

"At the risk of sounding like the Princess of Puke," Luna began, "This is literally bogus, dude! We just can't seem to catch a break, can we?"

"Lincoln's going to be okay, right?" Lola asked in a concerned and worried tone.

"Although I wish that our brother had not suffered any of the misfortunes that he's been through as of late," Lisa began, "The fact that he's gone through all of that and is still with us proves that he can, for lack of a better way to put this, take some serious punishment." Shooting a quick look at Lynn, Lisa added, "I believe that we may have you to thank for that, Lynn."

A surprised look on her face, Lynn said, "You think that all of the sports and other games that I dragged Lincoln into toughened him up?"

"I have yet to come up with another explanation, so for now that is the only working theory that I have," the brainy Loud sibling replied, "But that's beside the point. The point is that I believe we ought to have more faith in our brother's apparent ability to take whatever's thrown at him and come back swinging."

"Yeah," Luna remarked in a tone of agreement, "Lincoln's proven to be one tough little dude over the past month and a half to two months." The other sisters who were currently in house all nodded in agreement with their musically inclined sister.

"Hey, sorry about breaking the mood," Luan began, "But I don't suppose any of you are hungry, are you?"

"I have prepared more of my experimental dog biscuits in case any of you girls are interested," Lisa offered.

"Why would you give us dog biscuits?" Lola asked in a mildly disgusted tone.

"Hey, don't knock 'em 'til you try 'em," Lana replied.

"Well of course _you_ would have no problem with eating dog biscuits," Lola said to her tomboyish twin in a knowing tone.

"Actually, those dog biscuits of Lisa's are, like, totes good," Leni remarked, "I got one that tasted like vanilla, and Aggro said the one he got tasted like hazelnut."

"There's hazelnut flavored biscuits?!" Lana said in a surprised tone, "Aww man, how come I didn't get any of those?!"

"Excuse me?" Lola replied, looking totally confused.

"The experimental dog biscuits are all made with various formulas that taste like popular coffee creamer flavors to humans while tasting like various dog treat flavors to dogs," Lisa explained, "It is my attempt to make a biscuit that humans and dogs can enjoy equally. In fact, I have just finished perfecting a formula that makes the biscuits taste like pumpkin spice to humans."

"Ooh, pumpkin spice?" Leni said in an excited manner, "I've got to try that!"

"Yo, hit me up with some of those biscuits too, little dude," Luna remarked as she turned to face Lisa, "I got a serious case of the munchies going on right now." The rest of the sisters all started stating similar requests; even Lola decided to give in and try one of those dog biscuits, but only because everyone else seems so keen to try them.

When she bit into one of the biscuits and tasted caramel, the pageant princess was pleasantly surprised. "…Not bad," Lola remarked in a quiet but genuinely impressed tone after tasting the experimental dog biscuit.

* * *

Later that evening, Lynn Sr. came back with Lori and Lincoln; just like the police officer earlier had said, the sole Loud boy was fine enough so that a quick treatment by on-scene paramedics was sufficient to treat his injuries. The other sisters were beyond relieved that their only brother didn't have to go to the hospital again. Lynn somewhat smugly said that it must be due to all of the times that she and Lincoln had played sports helping to toughen Lincoln up. Hearing this prompted Lori to roll her eyes in response.

After a brief sibling meeting in Lori and Leni's room, the girls and Lincoln all went to their respective bedrooms, as it was getting late. Although most of them went to sleep pretty much right away, one of them did not take to sleep as easily, that being Lisa. The brainy Loud sibling did have a tendency to stay up late anyway to do experiments, but that was not the case this time.

This time, Lisa was staying up late to do some _research_.

It was no secret among the Loud family as a whole that Lisa had some pretty amazing technology at her disposal, chief among that being her highly advanced personal computer. As with all of her other gear, Lisa had made her computer herself, as the brainy Loud sibling would not trust any computer unless she had a direct hand in its construction. One of the reasons why Lisa preferred to use her personal computer is because any activity done on it is completely and utterly _untraceable_.

Getting right to work, Lisa got into the network for the traffic cameras until she found what she was looking for, that being the path that Lori and Lincoln were taking in Vanzilla. After a few minutes of observations, Lisa eventually came upon the scene where the red car blindsided the Loud family's vehicle, only to take off before anyone got a good look at it. Lisa rewound the scene so it was just before the moment of impact, then paused it when the red car was in good view of the cameras.

With the click of a mouse, Lisa switched the video feed to the exact same scene, but from a different angle. Now, despite what a lot of crime shows may tell you, the idea of enhancing and zooming in on a scene in order to look at it closer and more clearly isn't as real as you'd think. However, saying this to the four-year-old genius of the Loud family will get her to laugh.

Yet another reason why Lisa prefers to use her personal computer.

With a few more clicks, Lisa got a good clear look at the rear license plate of the red car that blindsided Vanzilla before taking off. Lisa wrote the license plate number down before opening up another program. Entering the license plate number that she wrote down into the program, Lisa started a search to find the owner of that red car. Within a few seconds, Lisa got the info that she was looking for.

What the brainy Loud sibling got from her search surprised her.

* * *

Sometime later, five grown men were lounging about in the living room of a somewhat rundown one-story house somewhere in a somewhat rundown neighborhood of Royal Woods. "We're dead," one of the men said in a mildly freaked out tone, "We're so dead! When Wallace's car is eventually tracked down, we're all going to be arrested! We're done, dudes! End of story, good-bye, the end!"

"Jacob, dude, relax," a second man said to the first, this second man, like the first man and the other three men, were all Caucasian men ranging in ages between thirty and thirty-four. The first man, named Jacob, had medium-length orange-red hair and wore a white t-shirt under a red flannel shirt with its sleeves rolled up that was open in the front, blue jeans with worn-out knees, and black work shoes.

The second man, who was talking to Jacob, had shoulder-length black hair and wore a light-blue t-shirt under a red flannel shirt with its sleeves not rolled up that was open in the front, newer looking jeans with knees still intact, and brown boots. "There's no way the law is going to trace my car," the second man said, "I got us out of there way too quick for anyone to see."

"How can you be so sure, Wallace?" Jacob asked, "You're in the hottest water here out of all of us, man! You're still wanted for the bombing that our group carried out!"

"It's a damn shame that two of our boys were captured by police and were later killed in prison," said a third man, this one having a shaved head and wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans and black shoes. The third man was notably, but not excessively, well-fed. Leaning back slightly, the third man said, "I bet they would have loved to see our revenge against our former boss."

"What really pisses me off is that someone had somehow found the warehouse that we were using," Wallace began in a mildly annoyed tone, "Used it as a place to seriously mess with some rich old guy's adult nephew, and now I'm being blamed for messing with the rich dude's nephew! I had four more bombs in that warehouse, all of which were almost finished! And now because of some idiot using the warehouse for messing with the rich old guy's nephew, the police came in and collected everything! Do any of you guys know how far this sets us back?"

"Relax, Wallace," the third guy remarked, "We still have the supplies in the basement here. We should be able to make at least two more bombs for our plan."

"He's right, man," Jacob remarked, "We aren't as set back as you're making it out to be."

Sighing, Wallace said, "I suppose that you guys have a point. We can still get our revenge on that conceited son of a bitch who fired us for no apparent reason." Getting up from the recliner chair that he was sitting in, Wallace raised the beer can he was drinking from in a toast. "Who here among you wants to do our late friends proud?" Wallace said, drawing a round of applause from his fellows.

Chuckling to himself, Wallace said as he sat back down, "Just what I wanted to he-"

"Hey guys," Jacob said in a mildly confused tone as he sniffed about the air, interrupting Wallace in the process, "Is it me, or does the room suddenly smell like vanilla?" The other four men all sniffed about the air as well in response to what Jacob asked.

"Now that you mention it," the third man said, "It does smell pretty good in here." To Wallace, the third man said, "Did you get new air fresheners, man?"

"No way," Wallace replied with a gently head shake in the negative, "How would I even be able to go about shopping for-" Wallace stopped short as, suddenly feeling very tired, he let out a rather long yawn. "Man, I am bushed all of a sudden," Wallace said groggily, "I think I'm going to hit the…hay…" Wallace slumped over and promptly fell asleep. The other four men were too tired to express alarm, as they themselves also slumped over and fell asleep.

As the five men snoozed away, a few robots rolled into the living room from the kitchen.

* * *

When Wallace came to, he noticed that he was strapped to a table, similar to what he'd seen in secret agent-style action movies, or in monster movies where a mad scientist makes monsters out of spare body parts. Wallace was still a little groggy, but he perked up a bit when he saw that his fellows were likewise strapped to similar tables. The table surfaces were all propped up, making the five men look like paintings that were hanging in an art museum.

"The hell is going on here?" Wallace said to himself, mildly annoyed but mostly freaked out.

Wallace and his four fellows soon got their answer when they saw a very short person walk into the room they were all in. It was Lisa Loud, but none of the men even knew who she is, nor would they have been able to recognize her. Lisa wearing a scrub cap, her glasses (of course), a medical mask, a long-sleeved lab coat under a protective apron, medical gloves and a pair of closed-toe shoes.

"Hello, gentlemen," Lisa greeted the five men in her usual dry monotone, "Thank you for volunteering your services as test subjects. We've got quite a lot of work ahead of us." Pointing to Wallace, Lisa added in a knowing tone, "Especially you."

"The hell is all this?!" Wallace said, perking up from his tired feeling more and more. He started struggling against his restraints, but none of them would budge at all.

"Heh, good luck trying to get yourself out of those restraints," Lisa remarked sarcastically, "You'd have to possess superhuman strength on par with comic book heroes in order to escape on your own in that manner."

Taking a step closer to the table that she had Wallace strapped to, Lisa said, "I know who you are, Wallace Willow. I know that you are one of the three men tied to the bombing of Royal Woods Elementary School, and the only one who is still at large. …Well, the only one who _was_ still at large. You see, after my sleeper gas knocked you and your fellows out, I did a search of the premises, and you won't believe what I found. Don't worry though, I took the liberty of destroying all of the bomb-making gear, materials and supplies that I found."

"You did what?!" Wallace nearly exclaimed, clearly angry and annoyed.

"Oh please," Lisa said in a sarcastic tone, "Do be as loud as you wish. It's not like anyone will hear you. The six of us are currently underground in a secret lab of mine. The entire place is soundproofed too."

"What the hell do you want with us?!" Jacob asked, clearly getting frightened.

"Since there was bomb-making gear in the abode you guys were utilizing, and I overheard some of the things you guys said, I deduced that Mr. Willow here isn't the only one in on the whole bomb-making scheme," Lisa said to the men as a whole, "I have reason to believe that the five of you are in on everything. Is this correct?"

"Yeah, so?" the third man replied in a bitter tone, "I take it that you're working for our conceited ex-boss who got promoted to run the local sewage treatment plant?"

A look of mild surprise flashed across the brainy Loud sibling's face. "…Umm, no," Lisa replied, "My brother was severely injured in the bombing on the elementary school." Regaining the bit of composure that she lost due to being surprised by the third man's question, Lisa said, "Mr. Willow here is the only one of the three men responsible for that bombing to have escaped punishment. I took you other four men as well because you're his cohorts and were talking about carrying out more bombings."

Taking a step back from where she stood, Lisa said, "You see, gentlemen, I'm a scientist. I have conducted many experiments over my life, often using my own siblings as test subjects. Many people would assume from this that I have no conscious to speak of, but I assure you that such a claim cannot be any further from the truth. There are some things that I simply will not to do to any of my siblings."

Her gaze narrowing slightly, Lisa added, "Luckily for me, none of you men are even related to me. That makes you _fair game_."

"Wait a minute," Wallace said with a mildly confused look on his face, "How old are you?"

"I am four years of age," Lisa stated

"Are you serious?" Jacob asked, "You're just a kid? How'd you even kidnap the five of us and drag us to your secret lab here?"

"I had my robots do the heavy lifting for me," Lisa explained.

"You have _robots_?!" the third man asked in a shocked tone, more surprised than anything else.

"Yes, I do, but I am afraid that this is getting off subject," the brainy Loud sibling remarked, "The reason why I have you five men here in my secret lab is because I have some experiments that I wish to carry out, and you five are going to be my test subjects for those experiments." Turning to face Wallace, Lisa said, "As you, Mr. Willow, are the only living member of the three men who attacked the school some of my older siblings and I go to, the experiments I have in mind for you are going be of a particularly…unpleasant…nature. When I am done carrying out my various experiments on you and your fellows here, I'll use one of my more recent inventions to wipe your memories of everything that went on here as well as your memories of the previous twenty-four hours, then I'll knock you all out with knock-out gas before I drop you all off in front of the local police station. Given Mr. Willow is a wanted criminal and the other four of you are all working with him, I have no doubt that the local police officers will be very much interested in having a word with all of you."

"You're going to wipe our memories?!" the third man exclaimed, clearly looking worried.

"Well I cannot afford to have my experimentations here be reported," Lisa remarked.

"All of this talk of experimenting on us," Jacob began in a disbelieving tone, "This secret lab, the robots you mentioned…and you're seriously only a four-year-old kid?! How is that possible?! Kids your age aren't supposed to be this smart! Not to mention this crazy!"

"Well I am one of the incredibly gifted individuals who's been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome," Lisa stated, "It is not uncommon to hear of someone on that part of the autism spectrum who is-"

"Wait a minute, say what now?" the third man asked, looking mildly confused.

Giving the third man an unamused look, Lisa said in her usual dry monotone, "I have been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. That puts me on the autism spectrum."

"You have autism?" the third man asked.

With an indifferent shrug, Lisa replied, "More or less." What the third man said next was not something Lisa expected or appreciated, although her expression didn't change to show it.

"That means you're a retard, right?" the third man asked.

With her usual unamused expression, Lisa said in her usual dry monotone, "You know what, new plan! After I finish with my planned experiments but before I go about wiping all of your memories and knocking you all out so that I can turn you over to the police, I'm going to perform on all of you a series of auxiliary experiments on the effects of various forms of _medieval torture_."

"…Aww crap," Wallace said, clearly not liking where this was going.

Giving Lisa a blank, worried stare, the third man said, "Would it help if I said I was sorry?"

"No," Lisa replied flatly, shaking her head in the negative. The four-year-old genius proceeded to turn around and walk over to one of her machines that she had in the secret lab. Flipping a few switches on the machine on, Lisa said when she turned to face her test subjects, "Well then, gentlemen…shall we begin?"

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER ELEVEN

Author's notes:

I knew ahead of time that some parts of this story would be venturing into some rather creepy, uncomfortable areas, due to how I've seen some of the sisters displayed in other examples of fan work. Worse yet, as I read some of those examples, not to mention looked at some of the fan art that I've seen, I could see the sisters in question actually being capable of potentially doing those things, albeit at their logical extreme. Anywho, the next chapter will be wrapping things up for Lisa's time in the spotlight, and with a more lighthearted tone than this chapter.

Also, relax; all five of the men are going to live. Lisa _is_ going to be turning them over to the police, after all. And I have no doubt that Lisa, being the smart girl that she is, wil be able to cover any and all signs that the five men had helped her with her experiments.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter twelve: Mad Science part three- A confirmed hypothesis

Lincoln Loud was resting at home after he and his older sister Lori were escorted home following an incident the previous afternoon. He was sitting on the sofa in the living room, reading one of his comic books. Sitting on the sofa with him was his older sister Luna; their younger siblings Lucy, Lana and Lola were all sitting on the floor. Apparently, there was some breaking news story on the news that Luna, of all people, wanted to watch, as it involved her idol Mick Swagger.

As the five of them sat in the living room, their younger sister Lisa came walking in. Letting out a small yawn, Lisa said, "Good morning, my sibling units. I don't suppose you all slept well last night, did you?"

"Well I did have a weird dream last night where I lost one of the many pageants that I usually compete in," Lola remarked.

"Wait a minute," Lana interrupted, "Wouldn't that normally be a _bad_ dream for you, sis? Why would you say it was a _weird_ dream?"

"I lost the pageant to Luna," Lola explained to Lana as she pointed to the musical Loud sibling, "Although I did beat out Bobby, Principle Huggins, Flip, Mr. Grouse and Pop-Pop for second place." Hearing the explanation from Lola about why the dream she had was weird prompted the other Loud siblings, other than Lisa who seldom ever does so, to laugh out loud. Luna found what Lola said to be particularly funny, given that she apparently _won_ the pageant in the dream.

After the laughter simmered down, Lincoln noticed that his brainy little sister seemed a bit tired. "Hey Lisa, you seem kind of bushed," Lincoln said in a concerned tone, "Are you okay?"

"I…had trouble sleeping last night," Lisa began explaining to her older brother, "It had to do with the fact that you and Lori were involved in that traffic incident. Since I was finding myself unable to get some sleep, I decided to try out some experiments that I've been aching to give a whirl." Lisa's explanation was true; she didn't get a lot of sleep the previous night, and the incident that Lincoln and Lori were involved in did, in fact, have something to do with it.

…However, Lisa's story is just a _very_ basic summarization of why she was up late the previous night. Long story short, Lisa got revenge on the man responsible for blindsiding Vanzilla, the Loud family's van, while Lisa's siblings Lori and Lincoln were in it. Lisa also managed to get ahold of the man's cohorts, and when her business with the men was done, she wiped their memories with a more recent invention of hers before knocking them out and dropping them off in front of the local police station; the five men in total were shortly arrested after that. At least Lisa got some valuable information out of the experiments she did last night.

" _Note to self_ ," Lisa thought as she turned around to walk back up the stairs, " _Do research on what the fat man from last night said after I take a nap_."

* * *

Something that one of Lisa's…voluntary test subjects…told her during the previous night before she wiped his memories stuck in the young genius's mind, so after a quick nap to catch up on some rest, Lisa fired up her personal computer to do some digging around. What the brainy Loud sibling found out from her research on this matter actually _disturbed_ her.

A couple of months ago, a man working at the local sewage treatment plant rose to a very high position, allowing him power over most of the plant's other workers. In this position of newfound power, the man fired a number of employees at the sewage treatment plant. The man gave good reasons for all of these firings, but a bit more digging around by Lisa confirmed that, in reality, the man fired every last one of those workers for petty, shallow reasons, none of which were even related to work. One of the employees who was fired, which turned out to be Wallace of all people, was fired by the man out of revenge for a _perceived wrong_.

Exiting out of all of the programs she had running before shutting off her personal computer, Lisa pushed back away from her table that she had her computer on. Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose, pushing her glasses up slightly in the process, as she sighed in a resigned tone; so _that_ ' _s_ why those men were in the process of making bombs, _that_ ' _s_ why Royal Woods Elementary was attacked close to two months ago.

 _That_ ' _s_ why Lincoln's left leg was now horrifically bruised and covered in scars.

Although it by no means justifies what the men were trying to do, it does not change the fact that, if it hadn't been for a petty, conceited man rising to a position of high power in the management hierarchy of the local sewage treatment plant only for him to abuse his power, then the attack on the school would not have taken place at all. Lisa didn't find out, nor did she have any idea, why the bombers decided to attack the elementary school, though.

Getting up from her chair, Lisa decided that she should look into this matter more. However, it could wait for the time being as far as she was concerned. After all, the brainy Loud sibling had a few more pressing issues of business that she wanted to get to.

* * *

"Mmm," Lori hummed in an amazed and genuinely surprised tone; Lisa had gotten yet another batch of her experimental dog biscuits ready, and her siblings were taste-testing them. "These are literally some of the best snacks that I ever had," Lori said to Lisa, "And these can be enjoyed equally by both humans _and_ dogs, you say?"

"Affirmative," Lisa replied in her usual dry tone, "As I've told everyone who asked about it, I got the idea for them from observing the many times Lana ate one of the dog biscuits from the boxes that we usually get for Charles."

"I'm glad someone decided to go through the trouble of making a snack that humans and dog can both enjoy," Lana remarked after she polished off another one of the biscuits, "I was getting tired of Charles always getting all of the good stuff."

"Although I…wouldn't agree with Lana in that regard," Lincoln said to Lisa, "I have to admit that these biscuits you've created are pretty good. Personally, I'd have to say that caramel is my favorite flavor of the biscuits. Are you considering marketing them?"

"Lincoln, you'd be surprised by how many times I've had to make trips to the patent office over my four years of life so far," Lisa replied with a hint of amusement in her tone, "But still, I'm glad that you and the rest of our sibling units approve of them." Turning to see Charles, the Loud family's dog, lying on his back in a content slumber, the brainy Loud sibling continued, "And I have no doubt that Charles approves of them as well."

"Speaking of dogs," Lori said, "Allison told me that she wanted to get another box of these biscuits for Fenrir."

"Heh," Lisa chuckled in an amused tone, "It seems that the biscuits already have a customer base. I think it is safe to say that this experiment is a success."

* * *

Lisa was up in her and Lily's room, making more progress on one of her latest projects, when she heard one of her sisters make a commotion downstairs. Seeing as how she had reached a safe place to stop for a break, the brainy Loud sibling decided to head down stairs to see what was going on. Upon arriving in the living room, Lisa found all of her siblings currently in-house in the living room. From what Lisa could tell, it had been Luna that was making the commotion.

"What is going on?" Lisa asked, sounding just a tiny bit annoyed that she had been dragged away from a project that she had been putting pretty much all of her free time into.

"It's a news report about the airlines out in California, dude," Luna remarked in a clearly peeved tone to her brainy little sister while pointing to the TV, "Apparently, they're going to be having even _more_ delays!"

"What?" Lisa replied in a surprised tone as she immediately turned her attention to the TV.

"…Costing airline passengers hundreds of thousands, if not millions, due to a constant stream of canceled flights and delays," the news reporter said, "Someone who was representing the airlines apologized for the consistent inconvenience that they keep imposing on passengers, but they cannot afford to take any chances due to reports of a supposed domestic terrorist living and operating in the city of San Francisco. Local law enforcement is hard at work trying to track down the domestic terrorist in question. And now onto sports. Roger?"

As Lana and Lynn wrestled with each other as Lana wanted to change the channel but Lynn wanted to watch the news's sports section, the rest of the Loud siblings all turned to each other. "A domestic terrorist living in California?" Luna said in a mildly worried but mostly confused tone, "Well that would certainly explain why the airlines are being so damn slow."

"Hold on," Lola began, "The news said something about San Francisco. What city was mom and Lily going to again?"

"Mom said that her friend lives in Sacramento, which is the capital of California," Lisa stated, "That would put mom and Lily at least eighty miles from the potential dangers that are taking place in San Francisco at the moment."

"Hey Luna," Lincoln began in a worried tone, "Didn't you say that your friend who lives in California lives in San Francisco?"

"Oh yeah, he does," Luna remarked, "Granted, I forgot what suburb he lives in, but I know for a fact that he lives somewhere in San Francisco."

"You know," Lori said in a wishful tone, "I've always wanted to go to San Francisco. To see the sights, go to one of the local restaurants, and do a bit of shopping."

"That sounds, like, totes awesome," Leni remarked, "We should go to San Francisco right now!"

"Do you have any idea how long of a drive it would be from Royal Woods to San Francisco?" Lisa stated.

"We can always, like, fly out there," Leni offered.

"One, it would be viciously expensive to fly a family of our size from Michigan out to California," Lisa replied in her usual dry monotone, "And two, as it is obvious that you have not been paying attention thus far, I feel the need to remind you that the airlines have their heads up their own rear ends at the moment."

"Lisa's got a point, Leni," Lori remarked to her fashionable sister, "Even though it would literally be awesome to go to San Francisco, flying out there right now would not only be dumb because of the airlines right now, but it would really cut into the ten grand that Lynn got."

"Yeah," Lynn said, "I'm sorry Leni, but I'm going to have to side with Lori and Lisa on this one." Out of the Loud siblings aside from Lynn, only Lisa could tell that the sporty member of their number was hiding something. Lisa wasn't sure what Lynn was hiding, but she opted to ignore it for now, deciding that it was a non-factor.

"Not to mention the fact that the news just said that there's some dangerous guy living in San Francisco," Lincoln stated in a concerned tone, "I mean, I would hate for anyone in our family to get hurt if that guy showed up while we were out at a restaurant or doing some shopping."

"Oh geez," Leni replied in a concerned tone to her siblings as a whole, "I'm really sorry about making you all worry."

Sighing in an understanding tone, Lori replied, "Leni, relax. No one's chewing you out. We're just pointing out a few things that, if we do the right thing concerning them, will literally save us loads of trouble in the future."

"Lori's right, Leni," Lincoln said to his fashionable older sister, "Other than the fact that the airlines are being really dumb right now, not to mention the fact that there's a domestic terrorist in the San Francisco area, a trip to San Francisco actually sounds really nice. Personally, I like the idea of one day going there."

"Aww, thanks," Leni said, touched that some of her siblings actually agreed with her. The fashionable loud sibling then proceeded to walk up to Lincoln and hug him, and that triggered a group hug in which all of the Loud siblings joined in on. Even Lisa, who is normally not one for human emotions, joined in on the group hug, although she was the last to join.

* * *

With encouragement from her siblings and father, Lisa went ahead to apply for a patent on the dog biscuits she had invented. The concept of a snack that can be equally enjoyed by both humans and dogs seemed to have something of an appeal to people, who got their first boxes, mostly out of curiosity. After that stage, the boxes started selling both in greater numbers and at greater speeds. And as the person who invented the biscuits, Lisa naturally got a fair share of the profits made from selling them.

…Did you seriously think Lynn Sr. and his wife Rita were the only breadwinners that the Loud family had? And this was far from the _first_ time that the brainy Loud sibling patented one of the many things she had invented.

Lisa was in her and Lily's room shortly after her family got the first of the money that Lisa earned due to her special dog biscuits, working on a secret project that she had been trying to perfect for approximately a month. By the little genius's estimations, her project should take about a few more weeks, but _only_ because of how much she cares about what this project will do for the person she had in mind while she was working on said project. Lisa wanted everything to be _absolutely_ _perfect_.

After Lisa had finished saving some progress she had made on her project, she heard a knocking at her door. Deciding that she was okay to take a break for the time being, Lisa hopped off of the chair she was sitting on and answered the door. When she saw Luna and Lori standing there with questioning looks on their faces, Lisa said, "Is there a problem, my sibling units?"

"Dude, care to explain what this is?" Luna asked as she held up a dark-colored durable looking bag that looked large enough to hold a full-grown human being.

"That would be a body bag," Lisa stated in her usual dry monotone, "I fail to see why that would cause alarm for you."

"We're 'alarmed' because we want to know what a kid your age is doing with a body bag," Lori stated, "They're literally used in handling _dead bodies_ , Lisa!"

"I have done work on people who had donated their bodies to science," Lisa explained, "Some of the demonstrations I have given to the students over at the local university were medical lectures that required going to a morgue to examine a cadaver." Gesturing to the body bag that Luna was holding, Lisa stated, "That would be one of the extra body bags from the morgue the last time I had to give a medical lecture there."

"You…" Lori began in a worried tone, "…You haven't done any work like that here, have you?"

"Of course not," Lisa stated in a reassuring tone, "I have not once experimented on, or otherwise bothered with, the deceased remains of human beings on the premises of our family's home." This was actually completely true; Lisa had never once experimented on, or otherwise worked with, a deceased human's remains on Loud family property.

"I'm going to be needing that back," Lisa said to Luna as she pointed to the body bag, "Also, I would like to know what you're doing with it."

"Lynn, Lucy, Lola and Lana were using it to play some sort of pretend game involving a zombie apocalypse," Luna explained as she handed the body bag to Lisa.

"How many times do I have to say it," Lisa said as her usual dry monotone took on something of an annoyed hint, "It is impossible for there to be any sort of quote unquote 'virus' or anything else along those lines that can raise deceased humans as undead."

"Try telling that to Luna's friend in California," Lori remarked dryly, "According to Luna, her friend in California as it written in his will that as soon as he dies, he wants his head to be removed from his body because he firmly believes that without a head, his body won't be able to rise as a zombie or some other form of undead."

Turning her attention to regard Luna, Lisa gave the musical Loud sibling a dry look. "You make friends with the most…interesting…people in the world, don't you?" Lisa asked, the annoyed hint in her tone gone.

With her hands on her hips, Luna asked her brainy younger sister in a mildly suspicious tone, "What's that supposed to mean, little dude?"

* * *

Later that day, the Loud siblings were all having lunch; Lynn Sr. was at work, so that left the siblings to try and fix things up for themselves. As they were all eating and otherwise enjoying each other's company, Lincoln said, "Hey, Lisa."

"Yes, Lincoln?" the brainy Loud sibling replied.

"Can you do me a favor?" Lincoln asked.

"What would that be?" Lisa said, admittedly at least a little curious as to what her older brother wanted to ask of her.

"Could you maybe not stay up so late so much?" Lincoln replied.

"…I beg your pardon?" Lisa asked, sounding completely confused.

"I can understand that you like to perform experiments," Lincoln replied in a mildly concerned tone, "And I can also understand that all of the recent incidents that I've been involved in has kept you up due to worry. But you really need to try to get some more sleep."

"Lincoln's right, Lisa," Luan remarked, "I mean, you of all people should be able to tell us how much sleep a person needs depending on how old they are."

"It…seems that in my efforts to finish up some projects and experiments, along with all of the worry that I have been feeling over the past several weeks or so, that I have in fact neglected to take my needs in to consideration," Lisa stated in a tone of realization.

"This is literally a problem that's been popping up since before the attack on the elementary school," Lori said to the brainy Loud sibling, "Lisa, you're only four. I don't mean to lecture you on anything, but it literally can't be good for anyone to not get enough sleep."

"You are correct in assuming that there are concerns with not getting enough sleep," Lisa replied in a matter-of-factly tone, "And if it helps, I was planning on taking a nap after lunch anyway."

"Good," Lori replied with a nod, "I'm glad to see that you're as smart as you say you are."

Giving her oldest sibling a suspicious look, Lisa said, "Are you implying that you believed me to be of lesser intelligence simply because I had made an error concerning the amount of sleep that I have been getting as of late?" A lot of Lisa's older siblings started laughing, finding it funny that Lisa was giving Lori a suspicious glare.

* * *

After a good nap, Lisa was back to work on her latest project, the one that she wanted to get absolutely perfect. The brainy Loud sibling took a look at her secret project, which involved some beakers containing various liquids, and a notebook with a lot of handwritten notes that was written on its pages.

At the top of the page that the notebook was open to, the words 'medicine to fully heal Lincoln's leg' could be seen, written in big, bold capital letters.

As she gave the notebook a gentle pat with her right hand, Lisa gave a mild resigned sigh. "Soon, my dear brother," Lisa said quietly to no one but herself, "Your leg is going to be fully healed."

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWELVE

Author's notes:

I'm sorry that a lot of this chapter contained mostly filler scenes, but I felt that it was prudent to show that the siblings all cared about each other, and that they showed it in ways other than ducking, dodging, pushing and shoving. Anywho, as I was doing research on Lisa's character for her time in the spotlight, I realized that the first four sisters that were featured were all sisters that Lincoln doesn't feel as close to compared to some of the others. Well, I'm going to be changing that starting in the next chapter.

Next time: Gothic Shadows


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter thirteen: Gothic Shadows part one- Dark is not evil

"The last brownie is totally mine, brah!"

"No way! The last brownie is, like, totes mine!"

Down in the kitchen of the Loud family's residence, two of the Loud sisters, Luna and Leni, were arguing over the last individually wrapped brownie from a box of snack cakes; it was one of those brownies that had little rainbow-colored bits of candy on top in a very thin layer of chocolate icing. The fashionista and the musician were arguing back and forth as they tried to explain to their counterpart that the last brownie should go to them.

As the two teenage Loud girls argued, they were suddenly cut off by a screeching noise. Suddenly, to the shock of Leni and Luna, a bat came flying into the kitchen, fluttering above Luna and Leni as it screeched madly. "Holy crud!" Luna exclaimed as she and Leni ducked and covered their respective heads out of alarm by the bat's sudden arrival, "Lucy! Come down here and call your bat off!"

As the bat flew over the two teenage Loud sisters, screeching as it did, Luna and Leni heard their little sister Lucy call out, "Alright, Fangs, leave them alone." The bat suddenly stopped messing with Luna and Leni as it changed course for where Lucy's voice came from. Looking over, Luna and Leni saw Lucy standing in the doorway of the kitchen, her pet bat Fangs landing gently on the gothic Loud sister's head.

"Dude, you need to keep a leash on that thing!" Luna remarked to Lucy, "It scared the bejesus out of me and Leni."

"Fangs only wanted to say good morning to you two," Lucy said to her older sisters, "Bats just have a different way of showing that compared to other animals is all."

"Well I would have liked a little bit of a warning next time, alright?" Luna replied.

"Very well," Lucy said with an understanding nod. Turning around, Lucy said, "Now if you two will excuse me, I've got some writing to do in the vents."

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," Luna answered as she made a shooing gesture with her right hand. A few seconds after Lucy left, Luna said to Leni, "Like I was saying, Leni, the last brownie is totally mine."

"I didn't get any from the last box because Lynn ate the one that was being saved for me," Leni pointed out, "So I should totes get the last brownie this time!"

"Ever heard of-" Luna began, but stopped short when, as her gaze fell upon the box of individually wrapped brownies that was sitting on the table, the last brownie, which should have been sitting out in front of the box, was missing. "Dude!" Luna exclaimed in shocked annoyance, "The last brownie is missing!"

"How could you take it, Luna?" Leni asked, "I still didn't get one yet!"

"Dude, I totally didn't take the last brownie," Luna swore, "I was too busy arguing with you about why I should have it!"

"Well I, like, didn't take it," Leni retorted, "I was arguing with you that I should have the last brownie!"

"Huh," Luna began in a pondering tone, "If you didn't take the last brownie, and I certainly didn't take it, then who did?"

…

Somewhere in the vents of the Loud family's residence, approximately a foot away from the cover that led into Lori and Leni's room, Lucy was writing in one of her poetry books, expressing herself through her talent with the written word about how the last several weeks in her family's house has gone and how it is making her feel. As she wrote, her pet bat Fangs sat next to her, eating a bug that he caught. As for Lucy herself, she was eating the last individually wrapped brownie, which the gothic Loud sibling snagged while Fangs was distracting Luna and Leni on her orders.

"…Hmm," Lucy remarked to herself, "I wonder if there are any good rhymes for 'bruise'."

* * *

The following morning, Lucy was sitting at the dining room table, eating breakfast. Sitting at the dining room table along with their gothic little sister were Luan and Lincoln. "So, when is Lori getting back today?" Luan asked.

"She said that she'd be back sometime before noon," Lincoln answered, "Then again, she usually gets back before that time whenever she and some of her friends on the varsity golf team get together for one of their overnight things."

"Whose house did they hold it at this time?" Luan asked.

"I think they held it at Sarah's place," Lincoln replied with a mildly unsure look, "At least I think Lori said something about her friend Sarah." As the sole Loud boy and the comedic Loud sibling talked, the twins Lola and Lana came walking into the dining room. The look on Lana's face showed that her rest was not entirely undisturbed. "Umm, Lana," Lincoln began when he saw the tired look on his little sister's face, "Are you okay?"

"I had another nightmare last night," Lana replied in a mildly upset tone, "And Lori's not here for me to talk to, so-"

"I understand," Lincoln replied in a kind, gentle tone as he gestured for Lana to come over. As the tomboyish Loud twin walked over to where her older brother was sitting, he pulled out the empty chair next to him and invited Lana to sit there. "Why don't you tell me all about it," Lincoln said, "I may not be Lori, but you can trust me, can't you?"

Looking up at Lincoln, Lana smiled, appreciative of how much her older brother cared about how she felt. "Thanks, Lincoln," Lana replied as she took the offered seat while Lola took the chair on the side of the table opposite of her older twin sister. "Umm, promise you won't make fun of me because of the nightmare I had?" Lana asked Lincoln, her tone sounding apprehensive.

"Lana, I would never put you or any of our sisters in an awkward position by revealing something embarrassing about whatever sister is in question," Lincoln replied in a reassuring tone, "There's no need to worry." After Lincoln gave this explanation to Lana, Lucy's attention was piqued a bit; after all, Lincoln had gone through such length for her back when she clogged the toilet with that Princess Pony book. Even when Lincoln was later forced to confess that it wasn't really him who caused that incident, he refused to tell anyone who it really did it, thus still saving Lucy loads of embarrassment and all but certain teasing from her sisters.

"…Well, okay," Lana replied to Lincoln at length, "But you're still going to think it's weird."

"At this point, someone would have to actively try to be weird in order to make me think they're weird," Lincoln remarked, "You _are_ aware of some of the things that goes on in this house from time to time, right?"

Smiling a bit, Lana said, "Alright, here I go." Taking a breath first, Lana said, "My bad dream from last night was about frogs being declared illegal!" A worried look on her face, Lana added, "It was worse than the bad dream I had where mud no longer existed!"

"How…how can you consider those nightmares?" Lola asked her twin with a confused look on her face, "Losing a pageant, however? Now _that_ ' _s_ a nightmare, unless it's the pageant from the weird dream that I had a while ago."

"Not everyone's idea of what makes a dream good or bad is the same, Lola," Lincoln pointed out to the pageant princess. Turning his attention back to Lana, Lincoln said, "Do you want to know the good thing about those bad dreams you just described to me?"

"W-what?" Lana asked, sounding mildly unsure about how those bad dreams she had could have any good qualities.

"Those dreams are just that, Lana," Lincoln replied in a gentle, reassuring tone, "Dreams. There is no possible way that what happened in those bad dreams you had can happen in real life. Frogs being declared illegal? No way that can happen with regular, non-poisonous frogs such as Hops. Mud no longer existing? So long as there is dirt and water, mud will always be around. Do you understand, Lana?"

With a bit of a giggle, Lana said, "Yeah, Lincoln. Thanks." Lana hopped off of the chair she sat on, jumped onto Lincoln's lap, and hugged him

Smiling gently, Lincoln returned the hug while patting his little sister's back. "No problem, Lana," the sole Loud boy said, "Feel free to come talk to me about any bad dreams you have if Lori's not around."

"Sounds like a plan," Lana remarked as she hopped off of Lincoln's lap. Looking to her twin, Lana said, "Come on, Lola! We've got some mud to make in the backyard!"

"No," Lola declared flatly, "No more mud may be bad dream for you, but it's a dream come true for me."

"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," Lana replied in an annoyed, mocking tone before heading out into the backyard by herself. This banter between the twins made Lincoln and Luan chuckle in mild amusement; with Lana's worries absolved, the two older Loud siblings were glad to see that things had gone back to how they were. Lucy also felt happy about how things were going, although she did not show it by laughing. The gothic Loud sibling rarely, if ever, showed any emotions. But still, Lincoln's offer to Lana sounded appealing to Lucy.

After all, Lucy had a reason for wanting to take up the offer herself.

* * *

Later that day, Lincoln was taking a bag of trash out to the curb in front of his family's house. As soon as he brought the trash bag to the cans, he heard Lucy's voice from behind him say, "Hey Lincoln, can I talk to you?" As per usual whenever she suddenly appears behind someone, the person she appeared behind jumps up and cries out in alarm.

"Oh," Lincoln said as he breathed a sigh of relief, "Hey there, Lucy. What can I help you with?"

"It concerns what you told Lana during breakfast earlier this morning," Lucy explained, "About how she can come to you about any nightmares she has if Lori's absent."

"Yeah, what about it?" Lincoln asked, a curious look on his face.

"I was wondering," Lucy replied, "If it was possible, that you would be open to the idea of me coming to you if I had any nightmares myself."

"Oh," Lincoln replied, mildly surprised that his gothic little sister was asking this of all things, "Umm, sure, I have no problem with that. Why do you ask? Have you been having any nightmares as well, Lucy?"

"Sigh," Lucy said in her emotionless monotone, "I did have one a few nights ago. It was a particularly troubling one, too."

"Well what was it about?" Lincoln asked.

"You," the gothic Loud sibling replied as she pointed to her older brother.

"Me?" Lincoln asked, his tone sounding surprised, "How does this nightmare involve me?"

"As we all know, you have been involved in a number of incidents as of late," Lucy began to explain, "Some for rather…notable…reasons." As Lucy explained her dream, she began to shudder a bit. It was mild shuddering at best, but it did not escape Lincoln's attention. "My…my nightmare was where you involved in another incident," Lucy said as a bit of emotion began seeping into her otherwise emotionless monotone, "But you…you…"

Stopping short, Lucy threw her arms around her older brother's shoulders, buried her face into Lincoln's chest, and began to cry, up to the point that she was unable to talk coherently. From his little sister's display right here, Lincoln was able to fill in the rest of the dots on his own. The sole Loud boy gently patted Lucy on the back in a reassuring, comforting gesture.

"Well I haven't gotten hurt yet since the last time, have I?" Lincoln asked.

Sniffling a little bit, Lucy replied, "No…"

"Yeah, I guess I should apologize," Lincoln remarked gently, "I mean, I not only caused you to have nightmares, but I most likely caused nightmares for the rest of our family as well. Some brother I turned out to be."

"You…you didn't do anything," Lucy said as she started to regain some of her usual composure, "It's not your fault any of what happened to you even occurred in the first place."

"I guess you're right," Lincoln replied. After Lucy straightened herself up, Lincoln said, "Come on, Lucy, let's get you inside so we can clean you up. Your nose is running a bit."

"O-oh," Lucy remarked, suddenly embarrassed because she just realized that she allowed herself to show emotion so openly. Meekly, the gothic Loud sibling proceeded to follow her older brother into their family's house.

* * *

Later, Lucy was up in the bedroom she shared with her older sister Lynn. Lucy was writing in one of her poetry books. " _The visions that one sees in the realm of sleep are but illusions_ ," Lucy wrote in her poem book, " _Unable to hinder or harm those who see them_. _What one sees and knows in the waking world can be taken as true_ , _and can_ -"

"Hey Lucy, what's shaking?" Lynn greeted as she walked into the bedroom, interrupting the gothic Loud sibling's writing. Stopping short, Lucy looked up and saw that her sporty older sibling was carrying a soccer ball. She also noticed that the side of Lynn's jersey was heavily stained with dirt and green smears of grass, as if she slammed into the ground. The gothic Loud sibling gave Lynn an unamused stare, not that Lynn was able to tell due to Lucy's bangs.

"I'm assuming that you and your friends had fun playing soccer?" Lucy asked in her usual emotionless monotone.

"I kept having to correct Mitzie whenever she called it football, but yeah," Lynn replied as she tossed her soccer ball onto her bed, "And hoo boy, Ulfric's got one heck of a kick! Maybe I should have put him out into the field first thing instead of having him be a goalie."

"You do realize that you're going to have to change your jersey," Lucy pointed out, "If dad doesn't tell you to, then one of our siblings surely will."

"Well it's a good thing I have multiples of this jersey," Lynn remarked as she walked to the closet in her and Lucy's room. As Lynn did that, Lucy returned her attention to her writing.

"- _be held close to you_ ," Lucy wrote, picking up from where she left off, " _It is imperative that one never forgets to let those close to them know that_ -"

"Speaking of soccer," Lynn said, once again interrupting Lucy's writing and making her look up. At least now Lynn was wearing a clean jersey. "My team and I have a game this weekend," Lynn continued, "It's going to be awesome!"

"I'm surprised that you haven't gotten back into baseball yet," Lucy remarked conversationally, "It's been a while since the last game you-"

"Please," Lynn said, interrupting her little sister, "Please don't remind me of my last baseball game." Sighing in a mildly resigned tone, Lynn continued, "I don't need to be reminded of what happened that day."

"I see," Lucy remarked, "I apologize. I didn't know it was still something of a sore spot for you."

"Also, I don't have any baseball bats anymore," Lynn continued, her tone shifting from sounding mildly resigned to sounding mildly embarrassed.

"Given what I heard dad say about Lori getting rid of them all, I can see why," the gothic Loud sibling said, "It shouldn't matter to you, though. You can always borrow a bat from Ulfric or Mitzie, can't you?"

"Neither of them owns a baseball bat, and in fact always had to borrow one of mine prior to Lori tossing them all away," Lynn explained, an embarrassed blushing appearing on the sporty Loud sibling's face.

"If you ever get a new one, make sure you hide it from Lori," Lucy suggested.

"Actually, I don't think that I'll have to worry about that," Lynn said, "Lori tossed out all of my baseball bats in the heat of the moment. She's calmed down from that since then. …Well, at least I _think_ she's calmed down from that since then."

"Better check with her to see if it's okay to get a new one," Lucy remarked, "Just to be safe."

"Got it," Lynn replied as she shot her little sister a salute before turning around to head out of their room. Lori has since returned from the overnight thing that her and her friends on the varsity golf team had together, so now was the perfect time for Lynn to ask her oldest sibling about if getting a new baseball bat was okay or not.

This left Lucy alone, once again, in peace, allowing her to go back to her writing. …Well, Lucy was not _entirely_ alone; but then again, Fangs didn't annoy Lucy with talking about sports or how many meatball grinders he can eat in a single sitting. The gothic Loud sibling though that the bat made for excellent company.

* * *

Later that weekend, Lucy was at home, sitting on the sofa and watching TV. The gothic Loud sibling, along with Luna, Leni and Lana, didn't go to Lynn's soccer game for varying reasons. Although Lynn was not too entirely thrilled that some of her sibling would not be coming out to cheer her on, she respected their reasons or decisions to not come. The sporty Loud sibling learned a rather harsh lesson concerning the _last_ time she tried to force one of her siblings to attend an event that they weren't really in the mood to attend.

Lucy and Lana were sitting on the sofa in the living room; Lana had a cartoon of some sort playing while Lucy, her attention focused on writing in her poetry book, wasn't paying all that much attention, and could not have cared less if Lana was watching some sort of raunchy comedy-type show or movie that was rated far too high for a six-year-old girl like Lana to be watching. Luna was in the garage playing music with a few friends, and Leni was up in her and Lori's room, working on her latest dress.

" _A soul who is truly kind will put your well_ - _being ahead of their own_ ," Lucy wrote, " _Even if their own well_ - _being has a greater immediate need_. _Some would say that someone who puts the needs of other ahead of their own needs is a fool_. _To these nay_ - _saying people_ , _I would say that if there is someone who_ -"

Lucy was distracted from her writing when the front door was thrown open, which was followed by Lynn, Lincoln, and their sisters who attended the soccer game that day walking into the house, with Lynn Sr. walking in after them. To Lucy's concern, Lincoln was holding an ice bag over his left eye. "Now Junior," Lynn Sr. began, "I know that what that boy from the opposing team did was unacceptable, but there was no need to-"

"You would expect me to stand by and do nothing?!" Lynn shot back at her dad, "I'm surprised you didn't try to get into a fight with the kid's dad!"

"Although I literally agree with you Lynn, dad has a point," Lori remarked, "Besides which, Lincoln doesn't need to go to the hospital for this."

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, having suddenly appeared right next to her family members who just returned, making them all jump and cry out in alarm. When this happened, Lincoln accidentally lost the grip on the ice bag he was holding over his eye, revealing some rather nasty bruising over his eye. Seeing the injury on her brother made the gothic Loud sibling actually gasp in shock, rather than just say the word 'gasp'. "W-what happened to Lincoln?" Lucy asked in a shocked tone.

"A ruffian from the team that opposed Lynn's team at the soccer game today struck Lincoln in the eye after the game ended in favor of Lynn's team," Lisa explained, "In a very un-sportsman like manner, the ruffian in question blamed Lincoln cheering loudly a few seconds prior to the game's ending as the reason why his team lost to Lynn's team."

"After everyone left the bleachers, Lynn saw the kid in question punch Lincoln in the face," Luan said, "She looked ready to tear the boy a new one, but dad held her back. Then the kid's dad showed up, then the coaches from the respective teams showed up, and everything fell into a huge mess of arguing."

"I will be meeting with the kid's father and the coaches at some point to discuss this," Lynn Sr. said to his children as a whole, "In the meanwhile, why don't you all relax? We've had a rather exciting day as it is, so I think it's time to unwind."

The Loud siblings proceeded to mill about the house, with Lucy going back to where she sat on the sofa. Looking to her side, Lucy saw that Lana was so engrossed with what she was watching that she failed to hear the rest of the family return, much less the conversation that just went on. Picking her poetry book back up, Lucy proceeded to write.

" _It is a great tragedy when one who is wronged is not allowed recompense_ , _even if they are by all rights entitled to it_ ," Lucy wrote, " _To forbid this entitlement would be as if one was forbidding an infant from having its mother_ ' _s milk_." Lucy looked up from the page that she was writing on for a few seconds, pondering what to write next. Then, as if struck by inspiration, the gothic Loud sibling finished her latest writing.

" _Luckily_ , _there are those who would seek justice for them in their stead_."

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Author's notes:

A few of the parts of this story as a whole are going to be kind of dark. This is especially true for some of the things that the Loud sisters have done (or are going to do). …Lucy has yet to have a go at dealing with an antagonist, and she has been referred to as, among other things, the duchess of darkness.

It's a title that Lucy's going to be living up to.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter fourteen: Gothic Shadows part two- Consumed by darkness

"Now see here," Lynn Loud Sr. said in a firm tone to another man who was roughly the same age as him, "What your son did to mine after the game ended was completely out of line! Why, I can press charges against your son if I wanted to!"

"You are not going to have my son arrested," the man replied with a bit of a laugh, finding humor in the Loud patriarch's well-justified threat, "Do you have any idea what my son getting arrested would do to my family's social standing here in Royal Woods?"

Lynn Sr. gave the man he was arguing with a quick look-over. About as old as Lynn Sr. himself, the man had a fuller head of hair the same color as Lynn Sr.'s hair, and he was Caucasian much like Lynn Sr. himself. He had a slim yet healthy build, wore a yellow t-shirt with blue jeans, and brown shoes. Although he looked clean and respectably groomed, the man and his family were by no means wealthy enough to be concerned with matters of 'social standing'.

"Actually Paul, Lynn here has every right to press assault charges against Scott," a youth soccer coach said. The previous day, there was an incident at a soccer game where Paul's son Scott punched Lynn Sr.'s son Lincoln because Scott held the sole Loud boy accountable for his soccer team losing the game to the opposing team, simply because Lincoln cheering loudly near the end of the game had supposedly distracted him, thus causing him to lose control over the soccer ball, which was taken by a girl on the opposing team, who then proceeded to score the winning goal. The girl who scored that winning goal just so happened to have been Lincoln's older sister Lynn.

Lynn Sr. was meeting with Paul and the coaches of both teams from that soccer game to discuss possible actions to take concerning the incident where Scott punched Lincoln in the eye. The coach of Lynn's team suggested that Scott should be kept from playing for the next few games, Scott's coach wanted to bench Scott for the rest of the season (which would equate to roughly twice as many games as Lynn's coach was suggesting) with the possibility of outright kicking Scott of the team if he misbehaves further during this time, and Lynn Sr. was still tempted to carry out the well-deserved threat of pressing charges against Scott. Paul, however, would be hearing none of that, and instead he suggested a more ideal punishment, the most that he would be willing to allow to be dealt to Scott.

"I think that all my son has to do is write a simple apology letter to the kid to that he punched, and everything will be fine," Paul stated.

The Loud family patriarch was nothing short of incensed by such a paltry offer.

"Excuse me?!" Lynn Sr. nearly bellowed, "Your son deliberately punched mine in the face over something that was in no way Lincoln's fault, and yet the most you suggest should be done to punish your son is to have him write an apology letter?! That's nothing more than a slap on the wrist, Paul! Something more has got to be done!"

"Well that's the most that I'm willing to offer," Paul replied as he crossed his arms, "Take it or leave it."

"With all due respect here, Paul," Lynn's soccer coach remarked, "I fail to see how you have any right or room to bargain here. I mean, your son not only blamed a kid in the bleachers for his team losing, but he then proceeded to punch that kid in the face. Why, I haven't seen such poor sportsmanship out of any kid on a youth soccer team since this one time where the team that I manage won a game, and a girl from the opposing team struck Lynn's daughter Lynn between the legs because our team beat their in that game."

"I have every right to bargain here," Paul shot back at Lynn's coach, "This is my son that you guys are talking about either kicking off the soccer team or, God forbid, press charges against!" Banging his fist down on the surface of the table that the four men were all seated at, Paul said, "The hell kind of a father would I be if I let my son suffer some sort of punishment that he in no way deserves?!"

" _In no way deserves_?!" Lynn Sr. repeated in a highly offended tone, "Are you seriously kidding me?! What the hell makes you think that you and your family are so untouchable, Paul?!"

"You know what?" Paul replied to the other three men in a firm and mildly annoyed tone as he crossed his arms over his chest once again, "If you three are going to take my very reasonable and generous offer and throw it back in my face like that, then forget it. And I better not be hearing any threats of banning Scott from play, or kicking him off the team altogether, or _especially_ pressing charges against him, because I swear that I will fight tooth and nail against any and every such decision. Do I make myself clear?"

"…I see," Lynn Sr. replied calmly in a resigned tone. Getting up from the table that the four men sat at, Lynn Sr. said to Paul, "If that's the case, then I'm afraid that this matter will be too much for the four of us here to resolve without further argument." Turning around to walk for the door, the Loud patriarch said, "I'll be pressing charges against Scott."

"Don't you even dare!" Paul demanded angrily as he quickly rose from his seat, pointing accusingly at Lynn Sr.

Turning his head enough so that he had a good vision of Paul in the corner of his eye, Lynn Sr. said, "You'll be hearing from my lawyer." Without another word, Lynn Sr. opened the door and left, soon being followed by Lynn's soccer coach and Scott's soccer coach, both of which shot Paul some regretful looks before leaving.

* * *

"He sounded like he was literally full of himself!" Lynn Sr.'s oldest child Lori exclaimed when the Loud patriarch returned home to his children after the meeting, "Did he seriously believe that a simple apology letter would be enough to make everything better?"

"Well that's why I've called the family lawyer," Lynn Sr. replied as calmly as he could. Sighing, Lynn Sr. said to his children as a whole, "You know, part of me is glad that your mother isn't here for this. Otherwise, she would have undoubtedly torn Paul limb from limb the moment he made that pathetic offer of his son writing an apology letter."

"Metaphorically, right dad?" Lana asked as she looked up at her father.

"I believe that our father is implying that our mother, were she here, would have, to borrow a line from Lori, _literally_ torn the father of the kid who punched Lincoln limb from limb," Lisa said in her usual dry monotone.

"I was gearing up to do that very thing to that Scott jerk," Lynn remarked in a mildly huffy tone, "But dad kept me from doing so."

"The last thing I want to do is to see you or any of your siblings get in trouble with the law," Lynn Sr. said to his daughter that was named after him. To his children as a whole, Lynn Sr. continued, "Look kids, just let me handle this. This is far from the first time I've had to speak with our family lawyer, after all." Clapping his hands together, Lynn Sr. said in a somewhat forced happy tone, "Now then, who wants dinner?"

"Yeah, I could totally go for something to eat, pops," Luna remarked, "I seriously haven't had anything to eat all day, other than an individually wrapped brownie snack cake that Sam tossed to me while I was at her place earlier."

"Oh, come on!" Leni exclaimed.

* * *

While her dad was preparing dinner, Lucy was up in the room that she shared with her older sister Lynn. As what can usually be expected of the gothic Loud sibling, she was writing in one of her poetry books. Fangs, Lucy's pet bat, was perched nearby, never straying far from his owner. Although what Lucy was currently writing was not so much an actual poem, she was expressing herself using very poetic syntax.

" _When a great wrong is dealt to an offended party_ , _they are by all rights entitled to recompense that is proportionate to the wrong that had been dealt to them_ ," Lucy wrote, " _To offer an offended party a pittance of recompense would be tantamount to dealing to them yet another great wrong_. _It is important that_ -"

Lucy was brought out of her thoughts, her writing, when she heard a gentle knocking on the doorframe of her and Lynn's room. Looking up, Lucy saw Lincoln standing in the open doorway of the bedroom. "Oh, hello Lincoln," the gothic Loud sibling greeted, "Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"I just wanted to let you know that dad's got dinner ready," Lincoln said to his younger sister.

"I see," Lucy replied. Sitting up on her bed, Lucy proceeded to scoot off her bed and stand on the floor of her and Lynn's bedroom. "Thank you for letting me know, Lincoln," Lucy said, "I shall be down shortly." Fangs, from where he was perched, screeched a bit before flying over to Lincoln, gently landing on the sole Loud boy's head. Lucy smiled as she saw this. "Looks like Fangs wanted to say hello," the gothic Loud sibling remarked.

"Heh," Lincoln chuckled a bit as he gently stroked Fangs on the head with his right index finger, "Hello to you too, Fangs." To Lucy, Lincoln said, "Well don't keep the rest of the family waiting too long, Lucy. Dad said that he made up another one of the recipes from the cookbook he forgot to return to Mrs. Santiago before she, Ronnie Anne and Bobby moved away."

"At least he's trying a new recipe every night," Lucy replied, "Although since dad's been trying a new recipe from that cookbook every night, it makes me wonder. When will the cookbook run out of recipes that dad hasn't tried yet?"

"I have no clue," Lincoln said with a shrug. Lincoln then turned to walk away; when the sole Loud boy was about a step away from Lucy and Lynn's room, Fangs got off of his head and flew back into the bedroom, perching on top of one of the post of Lucy's four-poster bed. Looking down at where his owner stood, the bat gave a single screech that sounded oddly concerned coming from a bat.

"I know, Fangs," Lucy said to her pet as she looked up to where he was perched, "My older brother has not only once again been given the short end of the stick, but the party that's responsible for this mess is actively trying to keep from having to pay up. At least I played an active role in apologizing to Rocky's older brother Rusty back when Rusty was wrongly accused of having shoved that trash can over my head."

Holding a hand to her chin, Lucy said, "You know, I wonder who was really responsible for doing that to me." A few seconds later, the gothic Loud sibling gave an indifferent shrug before saying, "Oh well, I can try to find that out later. It's nowhere near as pressing of an issue as the constant injustice that's being done to my older brother."

Slamming her right fist into her left hand just enough to make a gentle pat, Lucy said, "It's a good thing that the…tools…that I have in mind are just lying around up in the attic."

* * *

"No, you listen to me," Paul said at his family's house as he spoke over the phone with someone, "The last thing that anyone in my family needs is to have charges pressed against them. This goes especially so for my son, who just barely got into middle school at the beginning of this year. Just figure out how to get Loud to drop the charges, alright?" After a few seconds of listening to the other end, Paul said, "Okay, good. I'll be talking to you later. Bye."

As Paul hung up the phone, his son Scott came walking into the room. Scott looked pretty much like a middle school-aged version of his dad, save for the fact that his hair was proportionally longer. "Who was that, dad?" Scott asked.

"That was my lawyer, son," Paul replied with a sigh, "He says that it's going to be a very difficult case to get you off."

Scoffing, Scott said, "Well it's not _my_ fault that my team lost the game! That kid should have known better than to cheer loud enough to distract me!"

"I understand full well, Scott," Paul remarked, "Hell, I'm considering pressing charges against Loud myself because of all of the embarrassment this whole mess is causing us!"

"Ha!" Scott laughed, "It'd be funny to see them out on the streets after we win against them in court!"

"Yeah," Paul said in a tone of agreement, "That'll show Loud for trying to press charges against anyone in _this_ family without having any reason to do so whatsoever." Father and son then shared a laugh with each other.

…

Scott was in his family's backyard, kicking around a soccer ball. He was trying to get his mind off of the recent humiliating loss his soccer team had suffered. Scott's team lost through no fault of Scott's; rather, that annoying white-haired kid wearing the orange t-shirt distracted Scott with his cheering. If it hadn't been for that kid, then Scott would have been able to score a goal that would have at the very least ended the game in a tie. Then the match would have gone into overtime, and that would have given Scott's team a chance to make the goal that they needed to actually win the game.

And that soccer game could have been the first game in a long while that Scott had actually won. Scott actually plays for a number of sports teams, as sports are something of a passion for him. But he's lost every game that he's been in for the past few months; this includes games of soccer, hockey and football. _Especially_ football. Seriously, though, where did Scott's rival football team get that Swedish boy with the long and wild black hair? He tackles so hard that Scott swears that he once saw one of his teammates actually get sent _flying_ by that Barbarian movie reject from the nineteen eighties.

While he was kicking his soccer ball around, Scott eventually kicked it into a corner in the backyard. Scott tried kicking it back out of the corner, but the soccer ball would not come out unless Scott bent down to pick it up with his hands. But the sports fanatic did not want to do that, as this was a _soccer_ ball that he was playing with. So, Scott continued to try in vain to kick the soccer ball out of the corner of the backyard.

With many repeated attempts, Scott eventually kicked the soccer ball so hard that he did get it out of the corner, but not without the soccer ball pretty much flying up and striking him in the face, ricocheting off of his face, and landing on a pile of various gardening tools, including a shovel and a rake. The rake in question was not a light-duty rake made for raking leaves, but rather a heavy-duty rake, made for the purpose of breaking into and loosening up soil and to get rocks out of said soil.

It was on the prongs of that rake that the soccer ball landed, and it landed hard enough for the rake's sturdy metal prongs to puncture it, causing it to deflate and ruining the soccer ball beyond use or repair. Seeing his soccer ball wrecked like this, not to mention the fact that he was still upset with the fact that he was hit in the face with his own soccer ball, Scott got so angry that he ran over to where the tools laid, picked up the offending rake, and repeatedly banged it into the ground in the back yard until the head snapped off, breaking the rake in the process.

Looking at the now broken rake handle in his hand, Scott simply tossed the handle to the ground and breathed in and out, panting to catch his breath. How could this be happening to him, to his family? What did any of them do to deserve Scott's soccer coach talking about kicking him off the team? Scott in no way deserves to be kicked off of any of his teams, and he especially does not deserve to have charges pressed against him! He's just a kid, for crying out loud!

This can't be happening to him, Scott decided. It simply just isn't possible that someone like him, who had done nothing wrong to anyone, was close to being kicked off of one of his teams for supposed 'un-sportsman behavior'. He didn't do anything to deserve getting in trouble, and he certainly didn't deserve to have charges pressed against him! Why, if anyone were to blame for all of this mess, it was…

…that annoying white-haired boy with the orange t-shirt.

Yes, Scott was definitely seeing how all of this was the fault of that white-haired kid. If it wasn't for that white-haired kid, then Scott would not have been distracted near the end of the game, which means that Scott would have scored the goal that would have put the game into overtime allowing Scott's team a chance to win. If it wasn't for that white-haired kid, then Scott would not have gotten into trouble that he in no way deserves.

Yes, this was all that white-haired kid's fault, Scott decided there and then. It was _his_ fault that Scott's team lost that soccer game, it was _his_ fault that Scott punched him in the face, it was _his_ fault that Scott was in danger of being kicked off of the soccer team, and it was definitely _his_ fault that charges were being pressed against Scott.

As soon as his dad got everything settled, which would totally include getting him off the hook, Scott would look into catching that kid while he was out and about. Scott felt that it was very important to teach that annoying white-haired kid a lesson about messing with people who are better than him. But that can wait for now. Scott felt that he had all the time in the world, after all. There's no need for him to rush.

Once again looking at his now ruined soccer ball, Scott begrudgingly went into the shed in his family's backyard to retrieve a new soccer ball. As a sports fanatic, Scott naturally owned multiple pieces of identical sports equipment. He still had two to three more soccer balls, not to mention a few footballs, some baseballs, two baseball bats, at least a dozen hockey pucks, three hockey sticks, and who knows how many tennis balls.

Setting the soccer ball down on the ground, Scott began to kick it around a bit. About a minute into playing around with this new soccer ball, Scott kicked it so hard that he accidentally sent it flying over the fence and into the alleyway between the houses along his street and the houses on the street behind them.

"Dang it," Scott swore under his breath as he opened the gate on his family's backyard to head into the alleyway between rows of houses. Scott had to squint his eyes to look for his soccer ball; it was rather dark out, and the only lighting that Scott had to work with was the light coming from his own family's house. Remembering the approximate trajectory that his soccer ball took when it went over the back of his family's fence, Scott made a left turn and proceeded to walk from there.

Squinting harder since the light from his family's house was getting further and further behind him, Scott muttered aloud to himself, "Maybe I should have brought a flashlight with me. It would have made trying to find my soccer ball a whole lot more e-"

Scott stopped short suddenly as he heard the wind blow by, the sounds of windchimes sounding in the distance. The conceited sports fanatic felt a chill that made him shudder. "…Make that a flashlight and a light jacket," Scott muttered to himself, "I didn't know that it was going to be this dang frigg'en-"

"Ssssssssiiiiiinnnnn…" a fairly young and female voice called out with a hint of vengeance in its tone, barely above a whisper in terms of volume. Hearing that voice call out in practically a hiss made Scott freeze up out of fright, his eyes widening.

"Who's there?!" Scott called out in a panic as he turned around, looking around all over for wherever the voice may have come from. Again, the conceited sports fanatic heard nothing but the wind blowing away, as well as those aforementioned wind chimes in the distance. Also, a few dog barks could be heard this time around. "…Okay," Scott called out to whoever he thought was hiding in the darkness, "Whoever is out there, this isn't funny, so stop trying to play this spooky little game of yours and come out right now."

"Yyyyyyooooooouuu hhhhhaaaaavvvveee ssssssssiiiiiinnnnneeeeeddd…" the voice hiding in the darkness hissed again. Scott was now whimpering out of fright, with a few whines that went a very great deal into showing just how scared he was right now.

"Oh, come on," the conceited sports fanatic whined in a frightened tone, "Can you please-"

The owner of the voice jumped out from the shadows and landed right in front of Scott, revealing themselves to be a hideously deformed old witch, no taller than your average third grader. Immediately after jumping out and landing in front of Scott, the old witch pointed an accusing finger at the conceited sports fanatic and hissed with fury, "YYYYYYOOOOOOOUUU SSSSHHHHAAALLLLLLLLLL PAAAAAAYYYYYY!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Scott screamed in fright as he proceeded to run as fast and as far away as he could manage, just to get away from the frightening old woman. As Scott ran, he came to a screeching halt as he saw, of all things, a zombie, its arms outstretched and reaching for its next living meal.

Practically screeching like a frightened little girl now, Scott made a quick right turn to avoid being eaten alive. Over back where the little evil old witch stood, she reached to the bottom of her neck and pulled upwards. This had the effect of removing the mask, thus revealing that it wasn't actually a little evil old witch, but rather Lucy Loud. The smile on her face was a clear indicator that the gothic Loud sibling was happy.

"…I was half expecting that zombie scarecrow I got out of the Halloween decoration storage to not actually frighten that boy who picked on Lincoln," Lucy muttered to herself. Holding the full head mask that she had just taken off, Lucy looked at it while adding, "I also can't believe that this mask actually worked. I guess that bully must frighten even more easily than dad." Looking up and in the direction that Scott ran away into, Lucy remarked, "I guess that these two successes means the rest of my plan will work."

…

Scott was running for his life, to get away from the zombie that wanted to eat him, from the evil old witch that would curse him with evil magics. The conceited sports fan could not believe that all of this was happening to him; where did all of these monsters come from? Was there some nearby school that monsters go to? Or perhaps they all belong to a group of monsters from a monster school that's located overseas, like maybe from Japan.

Scott had to make a few more twists and turns, thinking that doing so would lead him away from all of the monsters that wanted to eat and/or curse him. Eventually, Scott made his way out into a forest clearing. Upon realizing that he was in a wooded area right now, Scott was able to calm down just enough to be a little bit impressed with himself; all of his constant sports playing, not to mention sports _winning_ , must have put his body in great physical shape. That being said, the conceited sports fanatic thought that if there was ever some sort of monster invasion or some other sort of chaos like that, he'd be among the first to escape the horrors. Scott had to breathe hard to catch his breath; regardless of how good of a physical shape he may be in, Scott is still a minor, ranging from late elementary to early middle school. No kid in that age group can run as long and as fast as Scott has just done without getting winded. As he was catching his breath, Scott looked up into the air and let out a tired cheer.

"WOOOO!" Scott called out with as much energy as he could manage at that time, "That mess back there was a really close ca-"

" _Wouldn_ ' _t you like to see something strange_ …" Scott heard another voice call out, cutting him off and setting the panicked conceited sports fanatic back into panic mode. Scott quickly looked around, hoping like hell that there weren't anymore monsters that were anywhere nearby. He was barely catching his breath; the last thing he needed was having to run away at full speed again. But, as Scott saw the shadows coming from behind the trees to shift in what little moonlight was available, he realized that he wouldn't have been able to run a second time anyway. After all, the monsters were _all around him_.

A Frankenstein's monster jumped out from behind a tree. The severed head of an upper-class woman from a few centuries ago in Europe rolled by, leaving a slight trail of blood behind that Scott was able to see with what little moonlight was available. A few skeletons, a werewolf, two more witches, one of which had vampiric fangs in her wicked smile and two fang marks on the side of her neck, also came out from behind the trees as well as a song started to play in the distance.

"… _You can run but you can_ ' _t hide_ , _they know that you taste better alive_ …"

"Okay, seriously!" Scott called out loudly as he urinated himself out of fright, sounding like he was about to start crying out of fear, "I have no idea what I did, but you have got to leave me alone! I'm just a kid, for crying out loud!"

"…Really, now…" a young yet sinister voice called out, a voice that Scott did not recognize. Turning around, Scott saw a person as short as the evil old witch from before standing there. This person was wearing a hooded robe, the hood of the robe covering part of their face. As this robed person came closer to the frightened Scott, they took their hood off, revealing that their face was horrifically marred with decay and streaked with blood; one of the eyeballs was even out of the eye socket and hanging loose.

"YOU'RE JUST A KID, YOU SAY?!" the person roared, sounding angry and quite possibly wanting a snack.

Scott was so scared that he instantly passed out, his vision consumed by darkness. He fell over onto the ground and laid there, face-up. Since the conceited sports fanatic was clearly knocked out, Lucy Loud, who was the one wearing the robe, proceeded to remove all of the horror costume make-up she had on; luckily for her, she had the foresight to bring at least two towels.

Once she had finished cleaning off all of the make-up and fake blood, Lucy looked around at all of the Halloween decorations she had brought with her in her bid to scare the boy who had punched her older brother in the eye. It was going to be a bit of a pain to collect all of the décor and get it back home before anyone was the wiser; setting up Geo's hamster ball as a self-moving severed head again was one of the trickiest parts, especially when it came to make it look like it was leaving a trail of blood (more of Lucy's fake blood) as it moved. …But then again, Lucy can appear behind people without even trying and give them a fright, so quickly gathering everything and getting all of it back home shouldn't be too difficult for her. As she proceeded to go about collecting the Halloween décor, Lucy heard the last of the recording of Luna's song from Halloween that she got onto a CD, before said song started to play again, as it was set on repeat. Carrying back that portable radio was going to be a little extra pain as well.

But at least the gothic Loud sister would have some music to listen to while she did her work.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Author's notes:

…Yeah, Lucy doesn't like it if someone bullies Lincoln.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter fifteen: Gothic Shadows part three- Reprieve from the dark

When Scott was found by his father in the woods the following morning, the boy was reportedly bubbling up foam from his mouth and his eyes were dizzy swirls, indicating that he had suffered something of a severe fright. When he was awoken by his father, Scott was taken home, allowed time to clean himself up and, when the police came by a short while later so they could gather a statement from him concerning him having gone missing the previous night, Scott claimed that he was being chased by monsters.

The police that came by, after exchanging 'is he serious?' type glances with each other, turned back around and informed Scott's father that, once the matter of Scott having disappeared for the night was settled, they would proceed to arrest him (Scott) for his assault on one Lincoln Loud during the youth soccer game. Right away, Scott's father began to object, as he felt that his son should not be arrested or otherwise punished. However, Scott himself spoke up and said that, regardless of what punishments he'd be given, he'd be willing to serve them. To say that Scott's father was shocked would be something of an understatement, but Scott himself felt that he had to serve whatever punishment that was handed to him. Luckily for Scott, he was just given a bunch of community service.

Maybe _now_ the monsters would leave him alone.

A few families that knew of Scott, Scott's father and the same general attitude that they tended to share, were likewise shocked to hear that the conceited sports fanatic willingly turned in for whatever sentence he would receive. One such family was the Loud family; for now, the only family members who were currently at the house were Lynn Loud Sr., the family patriarch, and his children Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn Jr., Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa. Lynn Sr.'s wife Rita, along with their youngest child Lily, were both still stuck out in California due to the sheer incompetency of the airlines out there.

"And now we move to Heilo Ken, our mixed-race field reporter, who is coming to us live from an airport out in California," the news anchor said while Lynn Sr. and his children all watched the news after Lynn Sr. had told his kids what he had heard about concerning Scott.

The news suddenly switched to a live recording of a male reporter standing in an airport terminal. The man had straight, shoulder length dishwater-blonde hair and cocoa-colored skin that denoted his mixed-race heritage. "Thank you, Marvin," Heilo said where he was reporting live from, "It has been announced that the crisis that the Californian airlines has ended, meaning that flights in and out of The Golden State are now once again possible."

Upon hearing this, the Loud siblings all cheered happily, as this means that their mom and their baby sister will finally be able to get back home. "The first airplane to fly into California since the crisis passed just touched down a few minutes ago," Heilo continued, "And the first flight out of California is expected to take off in-"

Heilo was cut off when the sound of something crashing into something else sounded from his left, startling the mixed-race field reporter. "Holy geez," Heilo said as he looked over where the crash had apparently happened, "It seems that four young adult men that were riding in an airport golf cart has just crashed into a muffin kiosk."

The camera turned to see the scene of the crash, showing that a small muffin kiosk had been smashed into a wall, with an airport golf cart laying on its side, exposing the bottom of it. The four young men who were supposedly riding it were all laying on the other side, obscured from the view of the people watching the news, although anyone watching the news could still hear one of the men angrily exclaim, "Goddamn it, Birdbrain!" in an Australian accent. The news promptly cut back to Marvin the news reporter.

While the news went on, the Loud siblings started talking amongst themselves. "The airlines finally got their heads out of their butts!" Luna said to her siblings, "That means that mom and Lily will finally be able to get back home!"

"Eww, the airlines had their heads in their butts?" Leni asked in a disgusted tone, "That sounds, like, totes nasty! Not to mention kind of difficult to pull off."

"Leni," Lori began in a mildly strained tone, "Saying that someone has their head up their butt is a phrase meaning that the person in question is being really stupid."

"We have quite a lot of things that we need to catch mom and Lily up on upon their return home," Lisa stated in her usual dry monotone, "Luckily for us, I took the liberty of writing up a report detailing every major happening since they left to California, along with a few minor happenings of interest as well. Everything is even listed in chronological order."

"Really?" Lana asked her genius younger sister, a confused look on her face.

"I've even updated it a few times as things changed," Lisa replied, "It certainly wouldn't do to leave either of our parental units wanting for information, now would it?"

"Can I take a quick look at that report you mentioned, Lisa?" Lynn Sr. asked, "I wanna see what all you wrote in it."

"I can go procure a printed copy for you, if you'd like," Lisa said as she turned and looked up at her father, "It will take a bit of time, however. Also, I may be requiring a fresh cartridge of printer ink soon."

"I'll look into it when I'm out later," the Loud patriarch remarked. To his children as a whole, Lynn Sr. said, "Speaking of which, I need to head out really quick to grab a few things from the store. We're going to be having that frittata recipe from the cookbook for tonight's dinner! Who doesn't like a good egg-based dish?"

"Wait a minute," Lola began with a confused look on her face as she raised a hand, "What's a recipe that originates from Italy doing in a cookbook full of recipes that are Mexican in origin?" The other Loud siblings, with surprised looks on their faces, all turned to regard their pageant-winning sister.

"Lola…has a point, father," Lisa stated as she turned to face Lynn Sr., "It is odd that an Italian recipe is in a cookbook full of Mexican recipes." Turning back around to face Lola, Lisa said to her, "I would also like to know how you, Lola, of all people would know that frittatas originate from Italy rather than Mexico."

"What, I'm not allowed to know anything outside of pageants?" Lola retorted, hands on her hips as she gave the brainy Loud sibling an accusing glare.

"No one had ever placed any such restriction on you as far as I am aware," Lisa retorted, "It just surprises us that you would have knowledge of such things is all."

"I think it's pretty amazing that Lola knows about all of these facts that she surprises us with," Lincoln said to the rest of the family. Turning to regard Lola specifically, the sole Loud boy said, "I'll be sure to give you a heads-up if I ever need a partner for a trivia contest."

The pageant princess Loud sibling giggled cutely before saying, "Thanks, Lincoln. It's nice that someone in this family thinks there's more to me than just a pretty face who wins every last beauty pageant that she enters."

"Anywho kids, I ought to get going now," Lynn Sr. said, "Before I go, Lisa, can you tell me what kind of printer cartridge to keep an eye out for?"

"Here's the specific brand that the printer I have uses," Lisa replied in a dry tone as she handed over the back of a packet that used to hold a printer cartridge in it, "They're cheapest over at the office supply store."

"I'll keep that in mind," Lynn Sr. said, "Anywho, I'll see you kids when I get back. Lori, you're in charge while I'm gone."

"Got it," Lori replied as she shot a salute to her father. The Loud family patriarch then took his leave to the store, leaving his ten currently in-house children to themselves. Lori, who saw her father off, said to herself as she still faced the door, "Well, it should literally take dad no more than an hour or so to pick up everything." As she turned back around to face her siblings, Lori said, "Alright, the first-"

Lori stopped short when she saw that, out of all of her siblings, only Lincoln was still standing there. "Lincoln, where did the rest of our sisters go?" Lori asked. This question prompted Lincoln to look around, which is when he noticed that Lori was right about the other Loud siblings wandering off.

"…I'm going to be honest with you," Lincoln said to his oldest sibling, "I had no idea until just now that everyone else just wandered off."

* * *

Lucy Loud, the eight-year-old goth of the Loud family, was in the vents of the house, writing in one of her poetry books. The gothic Loud sibling had taken to dark locations ever since she was a baby; Lucy found, as she grew up, that the darkness was offering more and more comfort to her. Through it, Lucy eventually discovered what kind of person she was, and had promptly adopted to the appropriate lifestyle.

" _Many people are quick to jump to the conclusion that something is evil_ , _or at the very least bad_ , _simply because it is dark_ ," Lucy wrote in her book, " _However_ , _nothing can be further from the truth_. _Darkness can be frightening to some_ , _yes_ , _but it can also be an ally_. _When a job has to be done_ , _darkness does not discriminate_ , _nor does it hold back_. _It will see things through_ , _just as it will see everyone when their_ -"

"Hey Lucy, can you hear me in there?" Lori's voice called up into the vents; Lucy was sitting about a foot and a half away from the vent gate that opened into Lori and Leni's room. "We're going to be having a sibling meeting in a few minutes," Lori called up again, "This time, try not to suddenly appear in the room and frighten all of us, alright? We don't want a repeat of the _last time_ you did that." Lucy knew full well what her oldest sibling was talking about; the Loud siblings usually get together from time to time to discuss various things that involve the siblings as a whole, or if one particular sibling was really upset, like back when Lynn came home crying from that one baseball game.

At a more recent sibling meeting, Lucy did her trademark sudden appearance thing, frightening her siblings so much that one of them actually peed themselves out of fright. When one of the siblings first caught a whiff of the acidic plume of urine, the blame was quickly pinned on the youngest of the siblings. So as one can imagine, everyone was surprised when a wet spot was spotted under where Lori sat on her bed.

The gothic Loud sibling could not help but crack a smile as she remembered Lori blushing with embarrassment. It was totally worth having to hide in the vents for the next few hours until their parents got home and were able to convince Lori not to go through with her standard threat of turning someone, in this case Lucy, into a human pretzel.

Closing her book, Lucy crawled over a bit to the vent gate that led into Lori and Leni's room. "I'll be down shortly," Lucy called down into the bedroom, "Just let me get my stuff put away first, alright?"

"Alright," Lori called back up, mildly surprised that she actually got an answer out of Lucy. After she heard Lori's response, the gothic Loud sibling crawled back to where she left her book, picked it back up, then proceeded to crawl over to where she crawled into the vents in the first place so she can get out and get ready for the sibling meeting.

* * *

The sibling meeting went by as per usual. Lori, who usually leads these meetings, first went over a few loose threads from the previous sibling meeting, before she went on to cover the main topic, which was the fact that their mom and Lily were going to be returning home soon after having been gone for so long.

"Now remember what dad told us, everyone," Lori said during the meeting, "Even though we all really miss them, we can't rush mom and Lily when they get back home. Mom and Lily are both bound to be very tired when they get back here to Royal Woods, so we should allow them time to rest." Seeing all of the hands that shot up, Lori saw that she had a few questions that had to be answered. Pointing to Lana, Lori said, "We'll start with you, Lana."

"So, does that mean that we can't surprise mom and Lily with a welcome home party the instant they walk through the front door?" Lana asked.

"I was thinking that we can set the party up while mom and Lily are both resting after they get back home," Luan suggested, "That way, when they both wake up, they'll be really surprised when they walk out and suddenly see that all of us had thrown together a party for them!"

"I understand that some of you may want to throw mom and Lily a party, and trust me, I literally agree with you on that notion," Lori remarked, "However, instead of one of the full-blown parties like what you occasionally see in cartoons, I had a somewhat subdued kind of party in mind. Just a few pizzas, some sodas, a few bowls of chips, and maybe a movie. We don't want to overwhelm them since they would have literally just gotten back from California after being gone for about two months and are probably suffering from jetlag."

"She's got a point, dudes," Luna remarked to the rest of the Loud siblings, "In fact, I bet that mom would actually appreciate a quieter kind of party more."

"So, all we need to do is, like, decide on what movie to watch," Leni said.

"I was thinking that we should let mom pick the movie," Lana replied, "I mean, the party is for her and Lily, right?"

"That sounds very reasonable," Lori remarked with an approving nod, "So all in favor of the quieter welcome home party for mom and Lily?" Every last one of the siblings all raised their hands, leaving the matter unanimous. "Good," Lori replied, a mildly amused smirk on her face, "Then by a vote of ten to zero, the notion of throwing a quieter welcome home party for mom and Lily is passed. Now all we need to do is run the idea by dad to see if he's okay with it."

"I'm sure that pops won't mind at all," Luna said, "I mean, he misses mom and Lily as much as the rest of us, so he's bound to be on board with the idea."

* * *

True to Luna's word, Lynn Sr. was fully on board with the idea of throwing a welcome home party for Rita and Lily. However, the Loud family patriarch had one of those more energetic welcome home parties from the occasional cartoon show in mind, rather than the more subdued suggestion that his children came up with. After it was pointed out to Lynn Sr. that both Rita and Lily are bound to be tired after their trip, not to mention how Lily might be startled into crying if a party were suddenly sprung on her, Lynn Sr. agreed to the more subdued idea.

Rita and Lily were still a few days off from coming back home, however, so the Loud siblings still had plenty of time to figure out some of the finer aspects of the party that they were going to throw to celebrate the return of their mother and their baby sister. While some of the older sisters, Luan especially, were going over in their heads what to do for the party, everyone else went about their business as normal.

For Lucy, this meant she was lying on her bed, going over her writing. The gothic Loud sibling was still struggling to come up with a word that rhymed with 'bruise' when she heard a knocking coming from the doorframe of the open door that led into her and Lynn's room. Looking over, Lucy saw that Lincoln was standing there. "Oh, hello Lincoln," Lucy greeted as she got up off of her bed. After walking over to her older brother, Lucy asked, "What's up?"

"You've been rather quiet for the past few days," Lincoln remarked, "Well, quiet _er_ , but you catch my drift. Are you feeling okay?"

"I've just been really focused on my writing as of late is all," the gothic Loud sibling replied. Looking down to the floor, Lucy continued, "Also, I am still feeling troubled by everything that you have gone through as of late."

"I see," Lincoln replied, gently nodding his head as he understood what his dark little sister was talking about.

"I'm sorry if bringing that up makes you feel uncomfortable," Lucy began, "But given how much you've gone through as of late, especially considering the fact that not a lot of time has gone by since everything started, I just can't help but worry that-" Lucy was surprised to find herself cut off when she was hugged. Looking up, she saw that it was Lincoln who was trying to reassure her.

"I understand how you feel, Lucy," the sole Loud boy remarked in an assuring tone, "You're just concerned about my wellbeing is all, and I appreciate that. I'm just as concerned with your wellbeing and the wellbeing of everyone else in our family. That's what family's for. We will always be there for each other." Breaking out of the hug, Lincoln faced his little sister and said, "Do you understand, Lucy?"

Smiling, Lucy replied, "Yes, yes, I do."

"Good," Lincoln said as he gently ruffled the top of Lucy's head with his right hand, "Now, is there anything else that your big brother can help you with?"

"Well, now that you mention it," Lucy began, "I am stuck on a poem I've been working on for the past few days. I want to ask you for some help on it, but I'm afraid that what I want to ask might offend you."

"Lucy, relax," Lincoln replied reassuringly, "There's no need to worry."

"…Okay," Lucy said, "Since you're really good at helping me come up with rhymes, I was hoping that you'd help me come up with a rhyme for 'bruise'."

With a slight chuckle, Lincoln said, "You really thought that would offend me?" Giving Lucy a gentle hug, Lincoln said, "Oh Lucy, you worry too much." Letting Lucy go, Lincoln said, "Have you considered 'ruse'?"

"…I can't believe that I didn't even think of that," the gothic Loud sibling replied, "Again, your way with words puts my own to shame."

"No, no," Lincoln said, "You're way better with the written word than me, along with pretty much anyone else I can think of. You just need to learn to not overthink things."

Smiling, Lucy said, "Thanks, Lincoln."

"No problem, Lucy," Lincoln said, "Anywho, come on. Dad said that he got dinner ready."

"I'll be right down," the gothic Loud sibling replied, "I just need to put my poetry book away really quick." Lincoln gave an understanding nod before he turned around to leave the room. Once Lincoln was gone, Lucy turned to regard her bed, where she left her poetry book laying. Picking it up, Lucy took it over to her desk where she sat it down. Before leaving the room, Lucy turned back around and looked to where she laid her poetry book.

Suddenly, as if struck by inspiration, Lucy went over to her desk, sat down at it, flipped her poetry book open to the page where she had the poem she was stuck on, and began to write. After about a minute or two, Lucy finished. Looking down at her writing, Lucy felt that it was very much satisfactory. Closing her poetry book, Lucy set it to the side on her desk before leaving her and Lynn's room to head down stairs for dinner.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Author's notes:

And…there, Lucy's time in the spotlight is finished. Anywho, I decided to throw in the bit about Rita and Lily finally returning to Royal Woods because they will be showing up; Lily especially, since she will have an important role to play later on in this story (I won't say what, though). Anywho, to give you all fair warning, the next couple of chapters will venture into the bizarre/surreal territory a little bit. Nothing too extreme in that regard, rest assured. However, let's just say that a certain older sister does not like if someone hurts her little Linky, and she will go to great lengths to make a very clear point of that, showing in the process that there is more in her head than just air.

Next time: Gentle Gold


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter sixteen: Gentle Gold part one- Strawberry smoothie (of ultimate healing)

When she woke up one morning in the bedroom that she shared with her older sister Lori, Leni Loud had a very strong feeling that her day was going to be, like, totes awesome. Getting up out of her bed, the fashionable Loud sibling stretched a bit, left her and Lori's room, then went right into the bathroom to go about doing her morning getting-ready routine. After taking care of her oral health, checking her face for any possible blemishes (there were none), brushing her hair exactly fifty times, and a quick shower, Leni was ready to face the day.

Walking down the stairs of her family's home in Royal Woods, Leni made a turn and went into the kitchen to make herself something for breakfast. Upon entering the kitchen, she saw two of her younger siblings, Lynn and Lincoln, preparing to head into the backyard. To the fashionable Loud sibling's surprise, her little brother was carrying a wooden baseball bat. It was a dark grayish color, and there seemed to be a mild crack going along the one side.

"Wait a minute," Leni said to her younger siblings, getting their attention, "I thought that Lori threw out all of your bats, Lynn."

"Mr. Grouse gave us that bat," Lynn explained as she pointed to the bat Lincoln was holding, "We were going to go into the backyard so I can work on my throw."

"Lynn says that she's wanting to try and get back into baseball," Lincoln explained to Leni.

"Aww, that's nice," Leni remarked, "I'm glad to see that you're doing totes better, Lynn."

"Thanks, Leni," the sporty Loud sibling replied, "So anywho, what are you up to?"

"Oh, I was planning on making a strawberry smoothie," Leni said, "I gotta have something before I head off to the mall."

"I can't fault you for that," Lincoln agreed, "Although you may want more than just a smoothie."

"…Like, two smoothies?" Leni asked, her tone sounding confused.

"He meant like something to eat, Leni," Lynn corrected, "I think there's some leftover pizza from dinner last night in the fridge."

"Oh," Leni replied in an understanding tone as she nodded, "I get it."

"Well, enjoy breakfast," Lynn said, "Lincoln and I will be in the backyard if anyone needs us." Lynn then led Lincoln into the backyard, leaving Leni alone in the kitchen. The fashionable Loud sibling proceeded to go about getting the blender out and plugging it in. Not turning the blender out yet, Leni opened the fridge to pull out what she would need to make a strawberry smoothie. As she Leni opened a cabinet over the counter next to the fridge to pull out a glass, she heard Lincoln cry out in pain from the backyard.

Alarmed, Leni instantly turned to face the door that led into the backyard, just in time to see Lynn bringing Lincoln back into the house. To Leni's horror, her little brother's right hand was bleeding from the palm; the sole Loud boy was clenching his right hand into a tight fist as he tried to cover the bleeding with his left hand. "What happened?!" Leni exclaimed as she ran over, "Why is Linky bleeding?!"

"The bat split in Lincoln's hands when he swung at the baseball I threw," Lynn explained as tears started to well up in her eyes, "I must have thrown the baseball way too hard."

"I heard crying, dudes," Luna's voice called out, drawing the attention of the siblings in the kitchen to the doorway that led from the dining room into the kitchen. They saw Luna run in, wearing only her sleep outfit. "What going on down HOLY CRAP!" Luna said, deviating midsentence and exclaiming in alarm upon seeing her little brother's bleeding hand. "What the heck happened?!" Luna said as she ran over to retrieve a roll of paper towels.

"Linky was helping Lynn practice baseball in the backyard," Leni said, "But Lynn threw the baseball so hard that, like, the bat split in Linky's hands."

"Wait a minute," Luna said as she started wrapping paper towels around Lincoln's bleeding hand, "I thought that Lori tossed out all of Lynn's bats when she was told how Lynn used a bat to threaten Lincoln into coming to that one softball game."

"Mr. Grouse gave us a baseball bat that he had," Lynn explained.

"Where is it?" Luna asked her sporty younger sibling.

"We left both pieces in the backyard," Lynn replied as she gestured for Luna to follow her into the backyard.

"Hey Leni, can you make sure Lincoln keeps those paper towels on his hand?" Luna said before heading out into the backyard with Lynn.

Turning to face her little brother, Leni asked, "Are you okay Linky?"

"My hand really hurts," Lincoln replied, the pain clearly causing tears to well up in the sole Loud boy's eyes.

"Well you, like, totes need to do what Luna said," Leni remarked, "She sounds like she knows what she's talking about."

"It should help keep blood from getting everywhere," Lincoln agreed as he hissed a bit in pain while sitting down at the table in the kitchen. Seeing her little brother struggling not to cry due to the pain in the bleeding cut on his hand made Leni really worried. Not wanting her little brother to feel hurt anymore, the fashionable Loud sibling went back to the cabinet over the counter next to the fridge and pulled out another glass.

Setting the second glass next to the first, Leni then proceeded to toss the ingredients for her strawberry smoothie into the blender, although she put in enough to make enough smoothies for two people. After covering the top of the blender, Leni turned the blender on, and allowed the smoothie ingredients to blend. When everything was perfectly blended, Leni turned the blender off, took the blender container off of the blender base, and poured the contents into the two glasses that she got out. Setting the blender container back on blender case, Leni took the two glasses containing smoothies and walked over to the table, sitting down next to Lincoln.

Handing one of the glasses over to Lincoln, Leni said, "Here, Linky. This should help you feel totes better."

Many people would normally question how a smoothie of all things can make someone feel better if they're suffering from a notable cut on the palm of their hand. However, Lincoln knew that Leni was only trying to help. Besides, out of all of Lincoln's sisters, he felt that Leni was arguably the nicest to him, so he didn't really want to hurt her feelings by turning down her kindhearted gesture. Using his uninjured hand to gratefully accept the smoothie, Lincoln said with another hiss of pain, "Thanks, Leni."

The sole Loud boy then drank a few gulps of the smoothie. His eyes widening in mild surprise, Lincoln remarked, "Hey, this is pretty good!" To his older sister, Lincoln said, "If all of the smoothies that you make are this good, then you may have a future with your own smoothie franchise!"

"Like, really?" Leni said excitedly, happy that not only did Lincoln like the smoothie, but that he had such praise for it. Right when Lincoln set the glass he was drinking from back down, the back door opened, letting Lynn and Luna walk back into the kitchen from the backyard.

"That was a pretty old bat, little dude," Luna said to Lynn, "And I did see signs that it had a slight crack in it before it split."

"You think we should tell Mr. Grouse that we accidentally broke it?" Lynn asked in a mildly unsure tone, "I mean, he was kind enough to-"

"What's going on now?" Leni asked, cutting Lynn off and prompting both of the returning sisters to turn and look at her and Lincoln.

"Oh, we figured out that the bat that Mr. Grouse gave Lynn and Lincoln was a pretty old bat that had a crack in it," Luna explained, "That explains why it split in Lincoln's hands."

"Speaking of, we ought to take a better look at Lincoln's cut," Lynn said as she walked over. With Lincoln tentatively allowing her to do so, Lynn gently removed the bloody paper towels to see the cut on his hand. When she saw the cut, Lynn's eyes widened a bit in surprise; although the cut was still there, it wasn't as big as she remembered it being. Also, the bleeding had slowed down considerably.

"…How is it healing so quickly?" Lynn remarked, prompting Luna to come over and take a look herself.

"Wow, that doesn't look like it was caused by the bat splitting in your hands, if the blood I saw on the remains of the bat are any indication," Luna said.

"Linky is surprisingly tough," Leni said, "All he needs to do is rest a bit and finish the smoothie I made him, and he should be good to go!"

"I'll agree that the dude's been put through the wringer multiple times but bounced back good to go every time," Luna remarked. Holding up a mini first-aid kit, Luna continued, "But I still think we should get that cut covered."

After Luna took care of the cut on Lincoln's hand, she got back up. "We'll take a look at the cut sometime later this evening, and see whether or not we need to change the bandage," Luna said.

"Thanks," Lincoln said, "You're really good at first-aid, Luna."

"Oh, I'm a girl of many talents," the musical loud sibling replied, a hint of a self-amused tone in her voice.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Leni," Lori said to Leni when they were up in their room together later that morning, "But I can't go shopping with you at the mall since I have to meet up with Allison, Carol, Trixie and my other friends on the varsity gold team. I can, however, give you a lift to the mall, and you can call me to come pick you up when you're done."

"Aww," Leni pouted in a mildly complaining tone, "But shopping isn't as fun without a mall buddy shopping with you!"

"Why don't you bring one of our siblings along with you, Leni?" Lori asked, "I'd suggest Luna, although maybe Luan could-"

"How about Linky?" Leni said, interrupted Lori midsentence.

"…Lincoln?" Lori said in a confused tone, "Umm, no offence, Leni, but I don't think that bringing Lincoln along could work."

"Why not?" Leni asked.

"Well first off, Lincoln is a boy," Lori said, "Boys are nowhere near as interested at shopping at the mall as girls such as you and me. Secondly-"

"I did say that I was wanting to bring him along to the mall to help him feel better after what happened to him," Leni interrupted once again, "I bet that he'll, like, totes love it!"

Seeing as how her younger sister was set, Lori gave a resigned sigh. "At least ask him if he's up for it first," Lori remarked, "If he says yes, then alright."

Nodding happily, Leni said, "Got it!" Getting up, Leni left her and Lori's room and made a beeline for the far end of the hallway, where Lincoln's bedroom could be found. Knocking on the door, Leni said, "Hey Linky, you in there?"

"Hello? Did someone call out for me?" Lincoln's voice called out from behind Leni. Turning around, the fashionable Loud sibling saw Lincoln finish climbing up the stairs and onto the second floor.

"There you are!" Leni said as she walked up to her little brother, "I need a mall buddy. You in?"

With a confused look on his face, Lincoln said, "Me? Umm, sure, I have no problem with that, but why me of all people?"

"Lori can't come with me, so I need someone else," Leni said, "I did say that I wanted to take you to the mall to help you get better from what happened."

"Oh yeah," the sole Loud boy remarked with a look of realization on his face, "I did recall you said something along those lines." With a mildly unsure look on his face, Lincoln said, "We don't have to get pedicures, do we?"

"Oh geez," Leni said in an apologetic tone, "I forgot that your one foot is, like, really badly injured and is still healing. I'm so sorry, Linky."

"It's alright," Lincoln replied in a gentle, reassuring tone, "It happens to the best of us."

"Well, you don't have to get a pedicure if you don't want to," Leni offered, "But I bet you'd love a manicure!"

Holding up both of his hands, Lincoln said as he looked at his wrapped hand, "Well my cut doesn't feel like it hurts anymore, so I think a manicure may be feasible."

"Yay!" Leni cheered, "Why don't you get ready now, Linky? Lori's planning to head out in, like, five minutes."

"I'll need to get my shoes on," Lincoln remarked as he walked around Leni to head to his bedroom, "Then I'll be ready to head out."

"Don't keep us waiting," Leni said before practically hopping down the stairs, excited that she was going to the mall with a new mall buddy. This was totes going to be, like, the best trip to the mall ever.

* * *

Later at the Royal Woods Mall, Leni led Lincoln into a clothing store. "I need to, like, find the perfect dress to wear," Leni said to Lincoln as they browsed the racks of blouses, dresses and shirts, "It's got to be nothing short of amazing."

"Well I'll leave that business up to you," Lincoln said, "You're the fashion expert in the family, Leni, so I have faith that you'll find what you're looking for."

"Aww," Leni replied in a touched tone, "It's so sweet that you believe in me like that. Thanks-"

"Wincon!" a familiar voice called out, giggling cutely as it did so. Hearing that voice, both Leni and Lincoln looked over to where the voice came from and, to their surprise, they saw their mother Rita and their baby sister Lily in the store; Rita was pushing a stroller that Lily was in.

"Mom! Lily!" Leni and Lincoln both called out as they went up to Rita and Lily. The Loud matriarch was surprised to run into two of her children here at the mall.

"Leni! Lincoln!" Rita said in a surprised tone, "I wasn't expecting to run into you or any of your siblings!" Hugging both of her older children that were at the mall with her, Rita said, "It's so good to finally see some of you again! I certainly can't wait to get back home now!"

"We should, like, head home right now!" Leni said, "I can call Lori and-"

"Leni, Leni, slow down," Rita said with a bit of a chuckle in her tone, "We should finish our shopping here first. Also, I'd like to get something to eat before we head out."

"I'm kind of in the mood for lunch myself," Lincoln remarked as he gently ruffled the top of Lily's head, making the baby Loud sibling giggle cutely.

The four Louds proceeded to walk and talk as they shopped. And by 'they', I mean Leni and Rita; Lily was sitting in the stroller the whole time, and Lincoln was along because Leni didn't want to go to the mall alone. After a few more minutes, Leni and Rita found what they wanted, so they decided to make their purchases and head out for the food court. However, as the four Louds tried to leave the store they were in, the alarms went off, freaking Rita and her kids out a bit. "Did we win a special deal at the store?" Leni asked as she looked around.

"No, the store's alarms went off, dear," Rita explained to her second-oldest child as the store's manager came walking up, holding a detector of some kind in his hand.

"Excuse me, but did you guys pay for everything?" the store manager asked in a mildly suspicious tone.

"Yes, young man," Rita said, "We paid for everything we got."

"Maybe the cashier forgot to scan something?" Lincoln suggested, hoping that it would help.

"We'll see," the store manager said as he activated the detector in his hand and waved it around the bags that Leni and Rita were holding. When the detector failed to pick up anything, the store manager lowered it, but when it passed by Lincoln, it made a mild noise. "Aha!" the store manager said as he pointed at Lincoln, "You must be trying to sneak something that you didn't pay for out of the store!"

"How dare you!" Rita scolded the store manager in an angry tone, "Accusing my son of shoplifting!"

"Ma'am, not now," the store manager said as he waved the detector around Lincoln some more. When it passed by his left leg, the noise that the detector made grew louder. "He must be hiding something in his left pants leg!"

"Wait, what?!" Lincoln said, clearly alarmed and starting to freak.

Kneeling down, the store manager said as he grabbed Lincoln's left pants leg, "Let's see what you're trying to-" The store manager stopped midsentence when upon lifting up Lincoln's left pants leg, he saw Lincoln's badly bruised and scarred left leg. "…Oh," the store manager said in a quietly shocked tone. Gently lowering the pants leg back down, the store manager said as he got up, "I think the alarm must have gone off for no reason, then." Turning to face Rita, who had a shocked look on her face, the store manager said, "Ma'am, I am so terrible sorry about this major misunderstanding. Umm, how about I get you and your daughter here a five-hundred-dollar gift card to the store and we call it even?" Seeing that Rita still wasn't saying anything, the store manager said, "Yeah, I think that will work."

As the store manager went off into the store, Leni and Lincoln both looked to their mother with worry. "Mom?" Leni began worriedly, "Are you okay?"

Lowering her gaze to Lincoln, Rita said in a tone of mild concern, "Lincoln, sweetie, what was that I saw just now?"

* * *

About an hour later, the rest of the Loud family that wasn't out at the moment was at home, going about their regular business. As Lana chased Lola around the house, they heard a knock at the front door when they ran past it. Stopping their running around, the twins turned to face the door, with Lola opening it. When Lola and Lana saw Rita standing there with Lily in her arms, not to mention Lori (who picked everyone up from the mall), Leni and Lincoln standing at the door with Rita, they squealed excitedly.

"Mom's back!" the twins both exclaimed as they proceeded to hug Rita.

"It's great to see you girls too," Rita remarked in a tone that suggested that she was upset with someone. This did not escape the twins, who looked up at their mother. When they did, they not only saw a disappointed look on Rita's face, but on both Lily and Lori's respective faces as well.

"We didn't do anything bad, did we?" Lana asked in a concerned tone.

"Hey everyone!" Luna shouted into the house upon seeing everyone come back from the mall, "Mom and Lily are back from California!" This triggered something of a stampede as the rest of the Loud siblings all came running over to the front door, or in the case of Luan, Lynn and Lisa, running down the stairs. The Loud siblings, other than those who arrived with Rita and Lily proceeded to group hug their mother and baby sister. "Dudes, you two were taking forever to get back from California," Luna said as she and her sisters hugged their mother.

"I know, dear," Rita replied in the same tone she was using so far, "And I'm sorry for causing you, your siblings and your father to worry about Lily and me." Sucking in a bit of breath, Rita said, "Speaking of your father, where is he?"

"Next door talking to Mr. Grouse," Lynn explained, "Mr. Grouse says that he feels really bad that the bat he gave me and Lincoln split in Lincoln's hands."

"Well that explains the bandage on Lincoln's hand," Rita remarked, continuing to use the same tone that she's been using so far.

"Hey mom, you okay?" Luna asked, noticing the tone her mother was using.

"Your father," Rita said to her kids as a whole, "Apparently forgot to tell me something very important concerning one of you."

"Forgot to tell you what now?" Lynn Sr.'s voice said from behind his returning family, prompting everyone to turn to see Lynn Sr. having come back from over at Mr. Grouse's place.

"Hey dad, mom and Lily are back!" Lana said.

"Well I can see that, sport," Lynn Sr. remarked. Looking to his wife, Lynn Sr. saw that she did not look all that happy. Neither did Lily or Lori, both of which had pretty much the same expression as Rita. "…Did I miss something?"

"While I was out in California," Rita began, "I saw on the news over at my friend's place about the attack that happened at the school that Lincoln, Lucy, the twins and Lisa all go to." Her tone taking on a bit more of a disappointed hint, the Loud matriarch continued, "You have no idea how worried I was that one of our children might have gotten hurt."

His eyes widening with realization, Lynn Sr. said in a concerned tone, "…Look Rita, I didn't want to tell you about it while you were out in California. I didn't want you to worry needlessly."

"Well of course I would have worried," Rita replied, "But even so, you still should have told me straight about what happened to Lincoln! I have just as much of a right to know about any major developments concerning our children!"

"We…should take this inside," Lori said as she looked around the neighborhood, "I don't think the neighbors would like us trying to live up to our family name in a more public setting."

* * *

Despite the hiccup concerning Rita discovering what happened to Lincoln, everything else went pretty much like how the Loud siblings and Lynn Sr. was planning. During the quiet welcome home party, Rita asked for _everything_ that went on while she and Lily were stuck out on the far side of the country. Luckily, Lisa provided this with her report that she was keeping. After she had read the report, the Loud matriarch flopped back into the armchair she was sitting in, unable to comprehend that so much could have happened in her absence, especially everything that her only son had been put through.

"That…none of that can be real…" Rita remarked in a mildly shell-shocked tone.

"I'm afraid it is, mother," Lisa stated in her usual dry monotone, "Every last bullet on that report is not only completely accurate, but listed in chronological order."

"Wincon," Lily babbled while she sat on her older brother's lap, hugging him and trying to bury her face into his shirt. The baby Loud sibling sounded upset, upset that her big brother, the best playmate in the world if you ask her, was apparently hurt really badly. To his credit, Lincoln noticed that his baby sister was upset, so he gently hugged her in a reassuring manner.

"Is dad in trouble for not telling you?" Lana asked Rita in a curious tone.

"A little bit, yeah," Rita answered.

"Is dad grounded?" Lola asked, prompting some of the other Loud siblings to giggle and chuckle a bit at the notion of their dad being grounded.

"No, but I am planning to revoke at least one of the special plans I had in mind with your father," Rita replied. Getting up from the armchair she was sitting in, Rita said, "Anywho, I don't suppose you kids thought of getting some ice cream for the party, did you? Because I could really go for some right now."

"Dang it!" Luna exclaimed as she smacked herself in the forehead, "I can't believe none of us thought of that!"

"We can head to the store to get some if you want," Lori offered.

"That sounds nice, thank you," Rita said to her oldest child.

"Hey," Lynn Sr. began as he walked into the living room from the dining room, "If you're heading out to get ice cream for the party, might I-"

"One of the things that I'm going to revoke are your ice cream privileges tonight," Rita said to her husband, making some of the Loud siblings laugh in amusement. The Loud family patriarch merely hung his head in shame.

* * *

The following day, Leni and Lori were in their room, lying on their respective beds. Lori was, as per usual, texting her Bobby Boo-Boo Bear, while Leni was reading a teen magazine. As they were doing their respective things, they heard a knock at their bedroom door, to which Lori said, "Who is it?"

"It's me," Lincoln's voice called from the other side, "Is Leni in?"

"Oh, come on in, Linky," Leni called back. The door opened, and Lincoln peeked in, but he still seemed a bit hesitant.

"It's okay, Lincoln," Lori reassured her little brother in a gentle tone, "I'm not going to object."

A bit more confident, Lincoln entered the room that his two oldest siblings shared. "I just wanted to see if Leni was in so I could thank her," Lincoln said.

"For what?" Leni asked.

"I actually had a really great time at the mall with you yesterday," Lincoln said, "The incident at that clothing store notwithstanding. Heck, we even got to see mom and Lily again before the rest of the family, so that has to count for something."

"I had a great time too," Leni said, "And hey, maybe you can come with me next time Lori can't come. How about it?"

"If I'm not at school or anything, sure," Lincoln replied, "I would-"

"Hey Lincoln," Lori interrupted, "What happened to the bandage on your hand?"

"Oh, my cut healed completely," Lincoln replied. Holding up his hand that was injured, Lincoln showed that it had completely healed. There wasn't even any sign of scarring.

"Wow," Lori remarked, "You're a really fast healer, Lincoln."

"I kind of wish that the rest of my injuries would also have healed as well," Lincoln replied in a mildly unsure tone, "But hey, at least I can play video games and read comics comfortably now."

"That's all we can ask for, I suppose," Lori replied with a shrug.

"So Linky," Leni said, "Anything else going on?"

"Well mom says that she told Pop-Pop about what happened," Lincoln explained as he mentioned the Loud sibling's grandfather Albert (AKA Pop-Pop), "She told me that Pop-Pop sounded sorry about what happened, but that he was nowhere near as shocked as she was counting on." With a shrug, Lincoln replied, "I'm guessing it's because some of Pop-Pop's war vet buddies suffered more than I did while they were in active service."

"Anything else?" Lori asked.

Shaking his head gently, Lincoln said, "No, that's about it." Lincoln then excused himself, but not before saying one last thanks to Leni.

"I really hope that things, like, pick up for Linky soon," Leni said in a mildly regretful tone, "I hate to see him go through a lot of bad things."

"At least he's not letting it keep him down," Lori remarked, "Lincoln's got a lot of spirit in him."

"Yeah," Leni said as she turned her attention back to her magazine, "Nothing is going to keep him down, is it?"

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Author's notes:

I wasn't really planning on introducing the antagonist of the arc in this chapter, nor was I planning on starting up the conflict either. I wanted to begin Leni's time in the spotlight with a more easygoing chapter, to ease Leni into the appropriate role instead of throwing a challenge right into her face as I have more or less done with the last few sisters that I featured. However, the challenge will come, mark my words.

I'm not sure how she comes up with ideas for smoothies, but I'll be damned if Leni isn't one of the most creative among her siblings.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter seventeen: Gentle Gold part two- Lockpicking increases to 100

"And…there…we…go!" Leni said as she was putting the finishing touches on an outfit she was making. It was one of Leni's finest works yet, but it was one of those outfits that the fashionable Loud sibling needed someone to model as she was working on it. Luckily for Leni, her little brother Lincoln was available for the job. "This is, like, going to be so cool," Leni said, "Thanks again for agreeing to help, Linky."

"No problem, Leni," Lincoln replied. With a mildly confused look on his face, Lincoln continued, "Although I have to ask. Why did you keep saying sorry while you were working?"

"I kept poking your left leg with my needle while I was working," Leni explained, "Although I'm surprised you didn't, like, yelp in pain or anything."

"My left leg…has a lot more to worry about than simple needle pokes," Lincoln pointed out.

Gasping in shock, Leni realized that she forgot that Lincoln's left leg is horrifically battered, thus it would be in constant pain; simple needle pokes would go by unnoticed in the overall sea of pain. "I'm really sorry, Linky," Leni said apologetically, "I forgot about how badly your leg was hurt again."

"I kind of forget about it from time to time as well," Lincoln said to his older sister in a reassuring tone, "And hey, silver lining, it didn't hurt all that much when you poked my left leg with your sewing needle."

Lincoln got off of the stool and carefully removed the dress before handing it to Leni. "Thanks again for volunteering to help me, Linky," Leni said.

"No problem," Lincoln replied, "I'm always glad to-"

Suddenly, Lincoln stopped short, and wore a look of discomfort on his face. Seeing this, Leni asked in a concerned tone, "Are you okay?"

"I need to use the bathroom!" Lincoln said in a mildly strained tone, his hands going over to cover what he usually covers when he really needs to go.

Giggling cutely, Leni said, "Well the bathroom is right outside the door, silly."

"Thanks," Lincoln said as he hurried as fast as he could to the bathroom, leaving Leni alone in the bedroom that she shared with Lori. The fashionable Loud sibling walked over to her bed, laid the finished dress out, and carefully folded it. She then picked up the folded dress and laid it on top of the dresser in the bedroom. With her latest dress out of the way, Leni looked around her and Lori's room.

Realizing she had nothing to do now, Leni found herself in a conundrum. She needed to brainstorm a new idea for a dress, and nothing helped Leni brainstorm better than one of her smoothies. So, she left her room and went downstairs to the kitchen, wondering what kind of smoothie she should make.

* * *

After making her smoothie, Leni walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room so she could make her way to the living room. When she passed through the dining room, the fashionable Loud sibling saw her mother Rita feeding her baby sister Lily. "Oh, hey mom, hey Lily," Leni greeted as she entered the dining room.

"Hello, Leni," Rita replied, "What are you up to, dear?"

"Oh, I was just making a smoothie," Leni said, "I need a new idea on what kind of dress to work on, and smoothies always help me think." After taking another sip of her smoothie, Leni said, "You want I should make one for you?"

"No thanks, Leni," Rita answered, "I'm just trying to feed Lily here." Leni turned her attention to her baby sister, who was babbling like the infant she was as her mother was trying to feed her. Rita stuck the spoonful of baby food into Lily's mouth, getting her to eat it. However, right as Rita was getting another spoonful of baby food ready for Lily, the phone went off. "Oh, I need to get that really quick," Rita said as she sat the jar of baby food, with the spoon still in it, on the tray of the high chair Lily was sitting in. Rita then got up and walked out into the living room to answer the phone.

Lily looked at the jar of baby food with the spoon still in it. Reaching a hand up, Lily swung it down, smacking into the handle of the spoon, and sent the jar of baby food flying. Leni yelped in surprise as she quickly ran out of the way to avoid getting hit by projectile baby food. When the jar clattered to the floor and spilled the remaining food, Lily giggled in amusement, clapping her hands all the while.

Walking back into the dining room, Rita saw the mess Lily had made. "I'm going to have to call you back," Rita said into the phone, "My youngest child just made a mess with her lunch." Ending the call, Rita sat the phone on the dining room table as she went about getting what she needed to clean up the mess Lily made. "Well aren't you a messy baby, Lily," Rita said, "Getting your food everywhere." Looking up at Leni, Rita said, "By the way, I heard you yelping, Leni. Are you okay, sweetie?"

"Lily, like, almost hit me with that jar you were feeding her from," Leni said, "I had to run to get out of the way."

"Poo-poo," Lily babbled as looked at her older sister.

* * *

Later, Leni was at the mall shopping, hoping that seeing something at the mall would spark her imagination, to get those creative juices flowing. As she browsed, Leni overheard a few people talking to each other behind her. "Hey, did you hear?" one female voice said, "Rumor has it that Garret Stoneheart just got out of prison."

"Oh geez, really?" another female voice replied to the first, "Wasn't he the brute who got arrested for kicking over and sub-sequentially assaulting a kid who was just trying to ride a bike, and the bike accidentally bumped into Garret's car?"

"Not only that, but the girl's bike didn't even scratch Garret's car," the first female voice said, "Personally, I can't believe he got out of prison after only a few years. If you want my opinion, that monster should have been stuck in there for life! Royal Woods as a whole would have been a lot better off if that had happened!"

The two female voices continued to talk to each other as they left Leni's range of hearing. But they did say enough while the fashionable Loud sibling was within earshot to get her worried. A guy who was in prison because he beat a poor girl who accidentally bumped into his car with her bike is out now? And the girl didn't even cause any sort of damage to the man's car? That man sounds, like, totes scary! Leni was afraid that the scary man might try to hurt one of her siblings! Leni was especially afraid that Lincoln might get hurt, given that Lincoln is not only Leni's only brother, but that he's already been hurt so much recently, and that he shouldn't be hurt anymore! It just wouldn't be right!

Finding the one or two items that she wanted to get, Leni paid for them before making her way out of the mall. She called Lori for a ride home, and waited for about fifteen minutes before the familiar shape of Vanzilla appeared at the far end of the mall's parking lot, driving on in. When Lori pulled up, Leni got in, and the two oldest loud siblings took off.

* * *

As Vanzilla drove into the neighborhood where the Loud family lived, Lori said to Leni, "So how was the mall, Leni?"

"It was, like, totes awesome," Leni replied, "There was this sale going on where shoes were being sold for half-off, but I already got a new pair the last time I went to the mall, so I went to the clothing-"

"What's going on over there?" Lori said, interrupting her younger sister midsentence. Curious, Leni looked over to where Lori was looking. To the shock of both sisters, they saw an ambulance and a police car parked outside of Mr. Grouse's house. At first, the two oldest Loud girls were worried that something had happened to their family's next-door neighbor, but became relieved when they saw Mr. Grouse standing next to a police officer, apparently telling him something.

"Why are there an ambulance and a police car parked outside of Mr. Grouse's place if he's just fine?" Lori asked rhetorically as she pulled into the Loud family's driveway. The instant that Lori and Leni both got out of Vanzilla, they could hear Mr. Grouse's rambling.

"I'm telling you, officer," Mr. Grouse said as he pointed down the road, "The car drove by and knocked the poor kid into my garbage cans! The bastard driving that car didn't even bother to stop to see if the kid was alright, I tell you!"

"Can you describe the car, sir?" the police officer asked as he took out a notepad and a pen.

"It was a green car, officer," Mr. Grouse explained, "It looked to be a few years old, but in remarkably good condition. I'd say that the thing was hardly ever touched, and I'm wishing it stayed that way!"

"Did you happen to see the license plate?" the police officer asked as he wrote down a few notes.

"Afraid not," Mr. Grouse replied, "The damn thing was going way too fast, I tell you!"

"Alright, thank you anyway, sir," the police officer said as he walked over to the police car. As Mr. Grouse turned around, he heard Lori call out, getting his attention and making him turn around in time to see Lori and Leni come walking over.

"Oh, you're Lynn and Rita's oldest kids," Mr. Grouse said, sounding a little concerned.

"Lynn is our sister," Leni said to her elderly neighbor, a confused look on her face.

"Leni, our dad is also named Lynn," Lori pointed out in a mildly exasperated tone, pinching the bridge of her nose as she spoke. Shaking annoyed thoughts out of her head, Lori said, "Anywho, what's going on here, Mr. Grouse? Why is there a police car and an ambulance parked outside of your house?"

Sighing regretfully, Mr. Grouse said, "I'm afraid that I don't have good news for you girls. I'd leave telling you this to your parents, but your dad took your mother inside the house as she was in hysterics." As Mr. Grouse spoke, the ambulance pulled away and drove off. Sighing once again, Mr. Grouse pointed to the departing ambulance and said, "You see the ambulance that drove away just now? Yeah, it's taking your brother to the hospital."

"What?!" the two oldest Loud girls exclaimed in unison.

"It's true, I'm afraid," Mr. Grouse said in a regretful tone, "Your brother, the McBride boy and a few other boys in their age group were riding around on bikes when a car drove by. I tell you, whoever was driving that car must have learned to drive from a maniac, because he was driving like one himself! Anywho, the car knocked your brother into the trash cans on the curb outside my house. Thankfully he was smart enough to wear a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads."

"Is Linky okay, Mr. Grouse?" Leni asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"His was hit in his left side and cried out more and at a louder volume than I would have guessed." Mr. Grouse said. Holding a hand to his chin, Mr. Grouse continued in a curious tone, "That younger brother of yours has some amazing lungs, if he can cry out that loudly."

"That's something you'll have to ask me and Leni's parents about," Lori remarked.

"I'll look into it once your mother has calmed down," Mr. Grouse replied, "I would seriously like to know what in the heck could have made a kid like your brother cry out so much and so loudly. He sounded worse than I did when I threw my back out this one time." After finishing talking with the two oldest Loud girls, Mr. Grouse turned around and went back into his house about at the same time the police car took off.

Turning to face her younger sister, Lori said, "Come on, Leni, we literally have to go inside to see how everyone is doing."

"Oh geez," Leni said in a worried tone, "I hope Linky will be okay."

* * *

While Lori, along with Luna, Luan and Lynn, was on the ground floor reassuring Rita that Lincoln was going to be fine just like the last three times he had to go to the hospital, Leni was upstairs, checking on the younger half of the Loud sisters to see how they were holding up.

Heading over to the door that led into Lisa and Lily's room, the fashionable Loud sibling gave a couple of gentle knocks before waiting for a response. "Come in," Lisa's voice called out from within the room, signaling Leni that she could now enter. Upon entering the bedroom shared by the two youngest Loud siblings, Leni saw a few beakers filled with various colored liquids, with individualized labels on each beaker. There was also a notebook that had some handwritten notes written on the page, and said notebook was sitting open on Lisa's desk near the beakers.

Pointing to the beakers, Leni asked, "Are you mixing stuff, Lisa?"

Looking up from her computer to see what Leni was talking about, Lisa saw that her second-oldest sibling was pointing to the beakers. "Oh!" Lisa exclaimed as she got out of her chair and ran over to the dresser, hastily covering the desk as a whole with a sheet. "Umm, yes," Lisa said, "I am working with some liquids as part of a side project of mine." It wasn't a lie, either; Lisa really _was_ working with various liquids for a side project of hers. Turing to face Leni, Lisa said, "Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see if you and everyone else were okay," Leni said, "I mean, Linky was just taken to the hospital again, so I bet you must be worried. I sure am."

"Well of course I am worried about our only male sibling," Lisa retorted, "Luckily for me, the security cameras I installed on the outside of our house and around our general neighborhood caught the car that hit Lincoln." Gesturing for Leni to follow her, Lisa walked back over to her personal computer.

Sitting down in the chair, Lisa pulled up a video that showed a green car driving through the streets really fast. It eventually sped past in front of Mr. Grouse's house. The video also showed Lincoln, along with Clyde, Rusty, Zach and Liam, riding their bikes around outside on the street in front of Mr. Grouse's house. The boys all saw the green car speed up towards them, so they all rode to get out of the way. Unfortunately, the car knocked Lincoln into the trash cans as it sped past them.

Lisa rewound the video she was playing, then played it in slow motion until it reached a spot where there was a good view of the car. "See?" Lisa said, "That's the car that hit our male sibling." Lisa then proceeded to pull up a web page that detailed the specific model of car that had hit Lincoln.

"So, since we know who did it, we can tell the police so they can punish the person who hit Linky?" Leni asked.

"We just know the model of car that hit Lincoln, along with its color," the brainy Loud sibling pointed out to her intellectual opposite, "I'm afraid that more information will be required before any action can be taken."

"Oh, okay," Leni replied, a bit crestfallen that they didn't know who hit Lincoln yet. Turning around, Leni said, "I'm going to, like, check in on Lucy, Lola and Lana now."

"Please close the door on your way out, then," Lisa requested, "I've got work to do." Nodding in understanding, Leni left Lisa and Lily's room, closing the door behind her as she did so.

* * *

Not wanting to wait around until the police eventually caught up to the person who had hit her little brother, Leni decided to take some action herself. Leni did a web search on the specific model of car in question. The fashionable Loud sibling remembered what it was because of her eye for detail; how _else_ can one explain Leni's ability to make such fine dresses and outfits?

As she narrowed the search down to more specific areas, Leni came across a news article about a man overreacting in a negative manner because a young girl riding her bike accidentally bumped into his car, which just so happened to have been the same model as the car that hit Lincoln (same color as well). The car was parked at the time, according to the article, and the car didn't even suffer any sort of damage. Even so, the man was so mad at the girl for bumping into his car, that he decided to kick the poor girl over and beat her a bit.

Reading further, Leni saw a photo of the man's car; it was green, just like the one that hit Lincoln. After scrolling down a bit more, Leni saw a photo of the man who owned the car in question. He was a fair-skinned man with shoulder-length scruffy dark brunette hair. Leni could tell that this man was older than Lori, but had to be a few years younger than her father. Looking under the photo of the man, Leni found the man's name: Garret Stoneheart.

…Huh, that name seemed familiar to Leni, and the fashionable Loud sibling gave it some serious consideration. She had no idea where she had heard that name before, but Leni could not shake the feeling that this was, like, really important. Leni scrolled back up through the article so she could reread the part about this Garret guy losing his temper at a young girl who accidentally bumped into his car with her bike and-

…Oh. OH. Leni remembered now. She remembered those two women at the mall earlier talking about how some guy named Garret Stoneheart assaulted a young girl because her bike bumped into his car, and was sub-sequentially arrested for it. The two women also said that Garret had recently gotten out of prison, although one of them said that they wished Garret had not gotten out of prison.

A sentiment that the fashionable Loud sister was finding that she agreed with all too much.

As she formulated a quick plan of action, Leni got herself dressed properly, as if she was planning on heading out. However, before she could begin, Leni needed to find out something that was very important. Furthermore, she couldn't go about find out what she wanted without alerting anyone in her family about what she was possibly up to.

Luckily, Lucy wasn't the only member of the Loud family who knew how to be discreet.

* * *

Back in Lisa and Lily's room, the brainy Loud sibling was working with the beakers that Leni had spotted earlier. As she was double-checking the amounts in each beaker, Lisa heard a knocking on the bedroom door. After quickly covering her desk with a white sheet, Lisa called out, "Come in!" To her curiosity, Lisa saw that it was Leni again. "What can I assist you with this time, Leni?" the brainy Loud sibling asked.

"While I was at the mall, I heard these women talk about a really scary guy who they said just got out of prison," Leni explained in a concerned tone, "I don't suppose you can, like, find out where the guy lives so I can avoid his general area, can you?"

"It should be a simple enough matter," Lisa said as she walked back over to where she had her computer. Turning it on, Lisa said, "I have a program that lets me find out where a person lives in the Royal Woods area."

"Neat!" Leni remarked.

"Indeed," Lisa said in her usual dry monotone. Turning her head to face Leni, Lisa continued, "All I need from you is the name of the guy whose general area you wish to avoid."

"The ladies at the mall said that the name of the guy is Garret Stoneheart," Leni replied.

"Alright then," Lisa said as she turned back around, entered the name into a search engine, and hit enter. After close to one second, a result popped up. "Here's the address," Lisa said as she pointed to the screen. Looking at what she had pulled up, Lisa said, "Huh. It says here that he was arrested for assault a few years back, and that he's recently been released on parole. I can see why you would wish to avoid such an individual, Leni."

"Thanks again, Lisa," Leni said as she wrote down the address that her brainy little sister pulled up. Getting what she wanted, Leni said, "Well I'm done here. Good luck on working with those various colored liquids of yours!"

"Remember that it's supposed to be a secret," Lisa replied, "And please close the door on your way out again." Leni did as she was asked, and closed the door to Lisa and Lily's room upon her leaving it. The fashionable Loud sibling didn't wish to bother her little sister anymore, so it was a good thing for her that she got everything she needed from Lisa.

Now all Leni had to do was to get ready.

* * *

Luckily for Leni, her roommate Lori had gone to the hospital with their mother, meaning that she would not be disturbed as she got what she needed. Getting down on her hands and knees next to her bed, Leni reached under her bed, grabbed ahold of something, and pulled it out. It was a case that Leni kept under her bed. The contents of the case, as well as the existence of the case itself, was known only to Leni. Not even the nosiest of the Loud siblings, such as Lola if she's ever on the hunt for blackmail to use against her siblings, knows about this case.

The case had a lock on it, and no one had the key to that lock, not even Leni. Luckily for her, Leni is one of the finest lockpickers to ever live. Removing one of the hairpins that she kept in her hair, Leni put it into the lock, wiggled it around a bit, and pulled the hairpin back out as the lock was undone. Looking into her case, Leni saw what her case held.

A black outfit that consisted of a long-sleeved shirt, pants, shoes, hood, bandana, and gloves. A small handful of lesser gems that individually wouldn't go for too much, but together can fetch a fairly decent sum. A set of high-quality lockpicking tools that was far more sophisticated than the simple hairpins Leni had been making do with as of late. A few small glass bottles of liquids, at least two of which were labeled as poisons. A single crystal-like gem that was dark purplish to black in color.

A long dagger in a sheath.

" _I never thought I_ ' _d have to_ , _like_ , _break into my case again_ ," Leni thought somberly as she considered the contents of her case. She didn't really want to have to do this, but a scary and dangerous man just hurt her little brother. And if there is one thing that the fashionable Loud sibling will not stand for, it's people hurting Linky.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Author's notes:

Leni doesn't like it when someone hurts Lincoln. Although most anyone can probably guess that, what most people won't know for certain is how far Leni would be willing to go if she found out that some evil person did hurt Lincoln. And if there's one thing that Leni is good at, it's keeping evil forever at bay. She is sworn by her honor to do so, after all.

As a side note, to quell any worries that any of you may have, this chapter has the LAST instance in this story of Lincoln going through an incident that results in a trip to the hospital.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter eighteen: Gentle Gold part three- For her blessing we pray

It was approximately eleven at night in a semi-rundown neighborhood in Royal Woods. There was a moderately medium-sized one-story house that had a basement. In the driveway in front of this house there was a green car that, although a few years old, looked relatively new, as if it had hardly ever been driven.

Inside of the house, Garret Stoneheart, who was recently released from prison and is on parole, was sleeping on the sofa. The man was home alone; there was not even a single pet in residence.

The ex-convict was in prison for a number of years following an incident where he beat up a young child who he kicked over just because said child accidentally bumped into his car while she was riding her bike. Many people in the Royal Woods area who have heard the story behind Garret expressed mild disdain at best upon hearing that Garret was finally out of prison. Pretty much the entirety of the Royal Woods community wished that Garret had stayed in prison for good, with a select few people even taking that wish to its logical extreme.

A wish that, in the following morning, people all over Royal Woods will be surprised to find out had been granted.

There weren't a lot of people living in that part of Royal Woods; in fact, the two houses on either side of Garret's house were vacant, leaving the ex-convict without next-door neighbors. That being said, no one saw a black-garbed individual climb over the fence of Garret's backyard from the alleyway that runs between the back of the houses. This person wore a hood, a bandana over their face that covered the lower half of said face, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, pants, and shoes. There was also a sheathed long dagger on the individual's left side, hanging from their belt.

Sneaking over to the back door of Garret's house, the individual saw that it was a regular door with a glass window on the upper half. Seeing the keyhole in the door's knob, the individual got out a lockpicking kit, selected the tools they were going to need, and within a few seconds, unlocked the back door.

Putting their tools away, the individual gathered their gear before gently turning the door knob and sneaking inside of Garret's house. As they tiptoed inside, the individual intended to find a bedroom where Garret might be sleeping; they had seen Garret's car parked outside, so the individual knows that Garret is home. The individual made a turn and proceeded to head down the first hallway they found, but froze in place upon hearing a loud snore coming from the area of the living room.

Quickly turning their head, the individual looked over and saw a sofa up against one of the walls of the living room. Garret was laying on this sofa fast asleep, the illumination of a late-night news show on the TV the only light in the living room, and the faint noise coming from it the only sound that could be heard.

The individual tiptoed over to Garret's sleeping form. A small flare of dark purple and black energy appeared in the individual's left hand; drawing their long dagger from their sheath, the individual thrusted their darkly glowing left hand at the sleeping ex-convict, then they took their hand back before twirling their long dagger around. Wielding their weapon in a reverse grip, the individual stabbed Garret Stoneheart, ending him forever.

What happened next would take pretty much anyone by surprise; a flurry of light bluish and white glowing energy flew out of the slain ex-convict and at the individual. This did not surprise the individual at all, however. With their target dead, the individual turned around and was prepared to leave, but something on the TV caught their attention.

"This is a breaking news report that just came from London," the news reporter on TV said, "Mick Swagger, famed rock musician, was shot after getting off his private plane at the London airport after arriving to perform a concert. Mick was rushed to the nearest hospital in critical condition. Additionally, several suspects in the attempted assassination of Mick are in custody. We will bring you more as news develops."

"That music guy that Luna likes was shot?" the individual said in a surprised and concerned tone. Lowering the bandana that covered the lower half of their face, the individual revealed herself to be Leni Loud. "Oh geez," Leni said worriedly, "That's, like, totes bad! Luna's going to be so upset about hearing-"

Leni stopped short and hurriedly put her bandana back where she had it over her face when she heard a quiet sort of cry coming from…somewhere. Thinking that there might be more people in the building, Leni did a thorough search of the premises. Finding no one else in any of the rooms, Leni was about to dismiss what she heard as an animal crying out from a few houses away. However, upon opening a door that revealed stairs that led into a basement, Leni decided to head down into the basement, her long dagger in her right hand and mass of fire that was roughly the size of a baseball in her left hand.

Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, Leni heard a soft and mildly panicked female voice say from her left, "Who a-are you?" Turning around, Leni saw a girl handcuffed to a pipe attached to a water heater. The girl had lightly tanned fair skin, long and straight auburn hair, and she wore a casual outfit. There was a gag of some sort hanging casually around the girl's neck; from the looks of it, it had been covering her mouth. Leni was besides herself with disgust; this girl could not have been any older than Leni's older sister Lori.

"A-are you with that m-man who kidnapped me?" the girl asked, her mild panic prompting her to stutter out of fear. Leni realized that she must be making the girl even more afraid than necessary; after all, the fashionable Loud sibling was wearing an all-black outfit that included a hood, plus a bandana that covered the lower half of her face. Looking the girl directly in the eye, Leni gently shook her head in the negative.

"Y-you aren't?" the girl asked, the barest hint of hope starting to rise up, "Then, where is he?" To answer the girl's question, Leni pointed up the staircase with her long dagger before pretending to draw a line over her throat. "H-he's…dead?" the girl asked, getting a nod in the affirmative from her silent savior. Stopping the flaring flame in her left hand and sheathing her long dagger, Leni took a close look at the handcuffs that trapped the girl. They were a surprisingly high-quality set of handcuffs, but Leni knew full well that she could unlock them and free the girl.

"I think the key to the cuffs are on a keyring on the table over there," the girl said to Leni, lifting up her left foot and using it to point to a table behind her. Turning around, Leni saw the table and walked over to it. As the girl said, there was in fact a keyring with a small key on it, big enough for a set of handcuffs. There was also an aluminum baseball bat and a drawstring pouch that once held a bottle of foreign whiskey; out of curiosity, Leni picked up the pouch and gave it a gentle bounce in her hand. The feel of the pouch indicated that there was a good bit of loose change and a number of bills of various denominations inside.

But that can wait. Taking up the keyring, Leni walked back over to where the girl was trapped and unlocked her handcuffs, removing them and freeing the girl in the process. The girl stumbled a bit due to having been trapped for so long, but she soon regained her balance. Leni even offered the girl a hand, which was gratefully accepted. "Thanks for saving me, whoever you are," the girl said, respectfully bowing to her silent savior, "So is that man really dead? Is that why you came here in the first place?" Leni nodded in the affirmative to both questions.

Chuckling a bit, the girl said, "I bet you didn't even know I was here, did you? Oh well, that doesn't matter." Leni led the girl out of the basement while pocketing the handcuffs and the key that went with them; the fashionable Loud sibling also picked up the drawstring pouch of money and the aluminum baseball bat that were on the table along the way. Leni had something special in mind for the bat.

Up on the first floor, Leni and the girl she rescued walked through the living room, with the girl gagging slightly at the sight and smell coming from where the forever silenced ex-convict was laying on the sofa in an ever-so-slightly increasing pool of rich crimson. The two girls reached the front door, with the girl saying, "I'm going to have to tell the police about that man who kidnapped me, and they will question me about what happened."

Turning to face Leni, the girl continued, "It's a good thing I have no idea what you look like because of how covered you are. I can't even tell if you're a guy or a girl. Even if I did, I wouldn't say anything anyway. I mean, what kind of a girl would I be if I ratted out the person who rescued me?" Leni nodded in understanding, and even shot the girl a thumbs-up before she (the girl) opened the front door, only to see that it was now raining heavily.

"Well ain't that just great," the girl said, "Me without an umbrella. I hope there's one lying around this place somewhere. I also need to get ahold of a phone." The girl proceeded to head back into the house to look for an umbrella and a phone as Leni took a few steps outside into the heavy rain.

Leni looked up into the night sky as the rain fell upon her half-covered face. Hoping that the girl she had just rescued wouldn't hear her, Leni said, "Lok vah koor!" A wave of energy flew from Leni and into the raining night skies; within a few seconds, the rain stopped, and the dark cloudy skies overhead even dissipated a bit. Right as this happened, the girl that Leni had rescued came walking out.

"I found an umbrella but no phone," the girl said, "I don't suppose that-" The girl stopped short upon noticing that it was no longer raining. "…It stopped raining?" the girl said in a confused tone, "Huh, oh well." Turning to face Leni, the girl said, "Thanks again for saving me, even if it was most likely not even the reason you came here anyway. I'm going to go find the nearest place where I can use a phone. Take care, whoever you are." The girl then took her leave, allowing her silent savior to take hers as well.

* * *

The following morning over at the Loud family's residence, Luan Loud walked down the stairs and onto the ground floor of her family's home. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Luan saw that her older sister and roommate, Luna, was sitting in the living room, her attention fixated firmly on the TV. Walking into the living room, Luan said, "Hey Luna, what's-"

"MICK SWAGGER'S BEEN SHOT!" Luna exclaimed, clearly upset by the news.

"Wait, what?" Luan replied, caught off guard completely by her older sister's sudden outburst. The comedic Loud sibling turned to face the TV, which was currently on the news.

"…Is now in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery," the news reporter said, "Additionally, the suspects that were apprehended earlier were all charged with conspiracy to murder. Fans of the famous musician the world over are celebrating Mick Swagger's surviving his attempted assassination."

"Well that's a relief," Luan remarked, "I'd hate to see what would happen if-"

"Don't you even _dare_ finish that sentence, mate," Luna growled in a warning tone, hints of her practiced British accent filtering in, "There is no way that-"

"Sorry folks, but we have just received word that Garret Stoneheart, who was recently released from prison, was found dead in his home very early this morning," the news reporter said, prompting both Luna and Luan to turn their attention back to the news.

"A girl who claims that Garret kidnapped her for reasons that she never learned about said that someone broke into the house seemingly with the sole intention of killing Garret," the news reporter continued, "The girl said that she couldn't identify anything about Garret's killer due to the outfit they wore. Police haven't been able to find any clues such as DNA or fingerprints, so Garret's killer currently remains at large. In weather-related news, meteorologists in the Royal Woods area have yet to determine why the rain from last night, which was expected to last well into the morning, suddenly stopped sometime in the middle of last night."

"...Someone broke into the house of a guy who assaulted a child just to kill said guy," Luna remarked in a mildly surprised tone, "Sounds like one of the comic book heroes that Lincoln likes taken to the logical extreme if you ask me."

"In other news," the news reporter continued, "Local resident Stan Stankco was arrested this morning for reckless driving when police confirmed that he was responsible for knocking an eleven-year-old boy into a pile of garbage bags and a few trash cans. The parents of the boy in question say that they intend to press charges against Stankco. And now onto sports. Roger?"

Turning the volume down on the TV, Luna and Luan turned to face each other. "…You don't think that-" Luan began, but she was cut off when the Loud parents, Lynn Sr. and Rita, came walking into the house from the front door, with baby Lily in Rita's arms. The oldest of the Loud siblings, Lori, followed her parents into the house.

"I can't believe that man would have the gull to hit our son, Lynn," Rita huffed as she and the rest of her group walked in, "And he didn't even have the decency to stop, get out and see if Lincoln was okay!"

"I know, dear," Lynn Sr. agreed, "I mean, who cares what game is on? That's no excuse to drive like a maniac just to get home on time!"

"Wait, what's going on now?" Luan asked as she and Luna walked up to their family who just returned.

Sighing in a mildly disgusted tone, Lori told her younger sisters, "You two remember those Stankco guys that dad and Lincoln competed against on that one game show that one time? Well, it turns out that Mr. Stankco was the guy who hit Lincoln."

"IT WAS HIM?!" Luna exclaimed, startling her sleeping siblings upstairs into waking up and coming on down to see what the racket was. Leni looked especially tired as she stifled a yawn.

"Hey dad," Leni said rather groggily, "Like, what's going on with all of the noise?"

"Yeah daddy," Lola added in a mildly annoyed tone, "I'm a few minutes shy of getting my full amount of required beauty sleep."

"Girls, it turns out that it was Stan Stankco who hit your brother," Lynn Sr. informed his daughters, "With that in mind, your mother and I will be taking legal action against him." All of the girls aside from Lori and Lily voiced outrage at the man who hit their brother; Leni kept quiet, though, because what her father had just said took her by surprise.

The fashionable Loud sibling was _not_ expecting to hear that.

* * *

A few days later, Lincoln was out of the hospital; although he was hit with slightly greater force, the sole Loud boy didn't really suffer any more than he did the last time he was struck by a vehicle. The only part of Lincoln that was still in any sort of pain was his left leg, which was still trying to heal from a previous incident that Lincoln was caught up in. Lincoln was in the backyard, relaxing as he watched his older sister Lynn throw a football around with two friends she had invited over, Mitzie Cornwell and Ulfric Aesir.

"That attempting killing of Mick Swagger from a few days ago still has me old man in a tizzy," Mitzie remarked as she saw Lynn toss the football to Ulfric, "He's a fan of Mick's music."

"You're preaching to the choir on this one, Mitzie," the sporty Loud sister remarked, "My older sister Luna is more or less the same."

"Well that musician is the person that, following him, made your sister the person she is today, is he not?" Ulfric asked as he tossed the football back to Lynn, "It is only natural for someone to having lingering feelings of worry when something of significance happens to a person that they look up to."

"Hey Lynn!" Leni called out as she walked into the backyard, getting the attention of Lynn, her friends and Lincoln. Holding up an aluminum baseball bat, Leni said, "I walked by a yard sale where I, like, found this being sold. I knew that you still didn't have a bat because the one that Mr. Grouse gave you broke the first time you used it, so I figured that you'd like this."

"Wow, thanks!" Lynn said as she walked up to her fashionable older sibling to accept the bat.

Nodding a bit, Leni continued, "Yeah, the lady who sold this bat to me said that it was, like, her son's lucky bat, and that her son even named the bat Stoneheart."

"Well Lori's friend Allison named that golf club of hers," Lynn remarked.

"Aggro-sensei also named his bokken," Lincoln pointed out.

"That's true," Lynn said as she pointed to her little brother in a commending manner. Turning to face her friends, Lynn said, "Hey Ulfric, Mitzie, what say we go to the park to try some baseball?" Holding up her new bat, Lynn continued, "I'm kind of itching to take 'Stoneheart' here for a test drive."

"Sounds like a plan, guv," Mitzie remarked in an agreeing tone as she and Ulfric proceeded to follow the sporty Loud sister into the house and out the front door on their way to the park.

Alone in the backyard of her family's home, Leni turned to face her little brother. "Are you feeling better after getting out of the hospital, Linky?" Leni asked.

"A bit," Lincoln replied, "Thanks for the concern, Leni. Hey, didn't you have some fashion thing yesterday?"

"Oh yeah!" Leni replied, "There was a design show for local talent yesterday, and I totally got first place for it!"

"Well alright, Leni!" Lincoln cheered, clapping his hands a bit to congratulate his older sister.

"Aww, you don't have to congratulate me," Leni replied, blushing mildly because one of her family members was praising her.

"No, no, you deserve it," Lincoln replied, "I mean, you're the girl who can make a dress out of anything. Not to mention the fact that you're an amazing craftsman, you're great at helping people with their problems, and you can make a really great salmon dish."

"I can make more than just salmon," Leni remarked.

"Exactly," Lincoln said as he walked over to his older sister, "You're an amazing, multi-talented individual, Leni." Gently putting his arms around his older sister, Lincoln drew Leni into a hug. "I'm glad that we have you here, Leni," Lincoln said.

"Aww," Leni said in a touched tone as she immediately returned the hug. Hugs are always nice in the fashionable Loud sibling's opinion.

* * *

Later that day, Leni and Lincoln were sitting on the sofa in the living room, with Lincoln playing a video game and Leni reading a fashion magazine. As the two siblings sat on the sofa, the twins Lola and Lana entered the house from the front door. "It's like I've been saying this whole time," Lana said to her twin, "If you want to-"

"Oh, hey girls," Leni said as she greeted her returning little sisters, interrupting Lana and getting both twins to turn to face her.

"Oh, hey Leni, hey Lincoln," Lana greeted back, "I was just telling Lola that if she wants to-"

"Are those brownies?!" Lola said with a hint of excitement in her tone as she pointed to a box of individually wrapped snack cake brownies that sat on the coffee table in the living room. It was the same kind of brownies as usual; thin layer of chocolate icing on top, with little bits of rainbow-colored candy on top.

Running over to the coffee table quickly, Lola grabbed the box as she said, "I've been wanting to get something to-" The pageant princess Loud sibling stopped midsentence when, upon grabbing the box, she noticed that it was rather light. Looking into the box, Lola saw to her horror that it was empty. "There aren't any left!" Lola complained.

"Yeah, Linky and I, like, ate them all," Leni explained.

"Leni didn't get any from the last few boxes that we got," Lincoln pointed out, "And I had a bit of extra money, so I figured why not?"

Huffing mildly in an annoyed tone, Lola replied, "Well that's fair, I suppose."

"Don't worry, Lola," Lincoln said, "I'll look into making sure you and Lana get some next time." Lola gave her thanks to Lincoln before going back over to join Lana and follow her out of the living room and up the stairs to the bedroom that they shared.

"You're, like, the best brother ever, Linky," Leni remarked as she turned to face her little brother. Ruffling the top of his head gently, Leni said, "Don't go changing that now, alright?"

A gentle smile on his face, Lincoln replied, "I wouldn't even dream of it, Leni."

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Author's notes:

Ful, losei Dovahkiin. Remember back when I said that Leni's time in the spotlight would be heading a bit into the bizarre/surreal territory? …Yeah. Well anywho, the next Loud sister's time in the spotlight will be following suit while going very slightly (but not TOO much) further into bizarre/surreal territory, especially considering who's going to be showing up to help the sister in question. The person who shows up to help totally won't be who you'd expect, dudes.

Next time: Awesome Rock


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter nineteen: Awesome Rock part one- Turn it up!

Luan Loud was tiptoeing through the upstairs hallway early one afternoon at her family's home in Royal Woods, Michigan. Video camera in hand, the comedic Loud sibling was intending to catch on film some things that her various siblings were doing. Luan first figured that she'd start with her older sister and roommate, Luna, who as far as Luan was aware was still in their bedroom, tuning her guitar. Whereas Luan was drawn by the allure of comedy, Luna was a rock musician through and through. Luan had no problem with this; to each their own, after all.

Seeing that their bedroom door was slightly open, Luan figured that now would be the perfect chance to secretly catch her older sister doing something on tape, hoping for some comedy gold that she could use (with Luna's permission, of course). Readying her video camera, Luan gently pushed the bedroom door open to see and record what her older sister was doing. What Luan saw took her by surprise.

Luna, her older sister, was meditating on her bunk of the bunkbed. _Meditating_. As in, legs crossed, hands resting gently on her lap palms up with the tips of her index fingers and thumbs pressed together, and humming meditating. The musical Loud sibling was being nowhere near as loud as she usually was, and this caught Luan by surprise. What's more is that Luan suddenly started chanting to herself.

"I am one with the awesome," Luna said, "The awesome is with me. I am one with the awesome, the awesome is with me. I am one with the awesome, the awesome is with me." As Luan watched in wonder, she was surprised when Luna, still in her crossed-legged meditation pose, began to start _levitating_. Upon seeing this, the comedic Loud sister was so surprised that she was not able to keep quiet.

"Holy shamoley, Luna!" Luan called out, "You're levitating!" Hearing someone call out suddenly made Luna lose focus, causing her to fall back onto the top bunk; luckily Luna fell onto her back instead of over, otherwise she would have had a bit of a fall.

"Geez, Luan," Luna remarked as she climbed down off of her bunk, "A bit more of a heads up would have been nice, you know." Walking over to her younger sister, Luna continued, "You said you saw me levitating, right? I'm going to have to ask that you keep that a secret, alright? It's kind of a big deal."

"Well I recorded you levitating just now," Luan said as she held up her video camera. Suddenly, Luna took the video camera from Luan, popped it open, removed the recording disk that was inside, and snapped it in half. "Hey!" Luan said in a tone of complaint.

"This is a private thing, sis," Luan said in an authoritative tone, "Only those who have been indoctrinated in the ways of the arts are allowed to know about it."

"Arts?" Luan asked in a mildly confused tone, "What arts?"

"It's best that you stop asking questions, sis," Luna replied, "It's a music thing." Luna then made her way past Luan and headed down the stairs to grab a snack from the kitchen.

Alone in the upstairs hallway, Luan said to herself in a confused tone, "Music lets you levitate?"

* * *

Later that day, there was a van parked outside of the Loud family residence that was not Vanzilla. This van was being used by Chunk, Luna's roadie and friend, who was using the van to transport a few things for performing rock music to Luna's place. This was not an uncommon occurrence in that neighborhood of Royal Woods, given the musical Loud sibling's affiliation with music. What was unique was that on this occasion, Chunk was being assisted by two people who until this moment had never been seen in these parts.

The first was a man who, despite being in his early sixties, looked surprisingly lively and was in great physical shape. He wore a long-sleeved shirt that was pale tan in color under a baggy t-shirt that had the logo of a popular alcoholic drink in the center, a pair of loose-fitting jeans held up with a belt, and a pair of men's sandals. The man also had straight shoulder-length hair that, to the bafflement of some people, was some sort of shade of pink.

The second person was a boy who was somewhere between Luna's siblings Lynn and Lincoln in terms of age. The boy wore a blue t-shirt over a white long-sleeved shirt, white cargo shorts that reached his knees, and a pair of men's sandals that were sized to fit him. His hair was jet black and sort of stuck out from the back of his head save for bangs that framed his face. The boy, much like the older man, appeared to have some sort of oriental heritage.

As Chunk and his two helpers worked, the boy walked up to Chunk and set down a guitar case next to him while saying, "Here's the guitar you asked me to get out for you, Mr. Chunk."

"'Ay, thanks for the help, guv," Chunk replied, "Yer a real mate, ya know?"

"One of the coolest kids where we come from if you ask me," the man said to Chunk. Pointing to the boy, the man continued, "Why, he graduated top of his class!"

"Graduated top of his class?" Chunk repeated in a confused tone. Turning to face the boy, Chunk asked, "How old are you, guv?"

"Twelve," the boy replied, "Why do you ask, Mr. Chunk?"

"Yer a genius if ya graduated top of your class at that age, mate," Chunk remarked.

"Oh no, dude," the man replied in a calm understanding tone, "Most kids graduate at his age where we come from." As Chunk talked with the man and the boy, Lynn Sr. came walking out of his family's house.

"Oh, you're Luna's friend," Lynn Sr. called out while pointing to Chunk, getting the roadie's attention in the process. Walking over, Lynn Sr. continued, "Yeah, my daughter told me that she has a really important-" Stopping short upon noticing the man and the boy, Lynn Sr. said to them, "Umm, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I don't suppose you can care to tell me who you two might be?"

"Holy crud!" Luna's voice called out in a pleasantly surprised tone, making everyone turn to see Luna standing in the Loud family's doorway. Running out and over to where the guys stood, the musical Loud sibling said, "It's been ages, sensei!"

"Sensei?" Lynn Sr. repeated in a confused tone.

"Oh, dad," Luna said upon seeing her father, "I just realized that this is probably the first time that you have ever met Harold-sensei."

"Oh yeah," the pink-haired man said. His left hand on his hip, the pink-haired man raised his right hand in a greeting gesture as he said, "The name's Harold Fisher. I was the one who taught Luna here a lot of what she knows about rocking out, as well as being awesome."

"Oh, so you're my daughter Luna's music tutor," Lynn Sr. said in a tone of finally understanding something, "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense." Pointing to the twelve-year-old boy that was with Harold, Lynn Sr. asked, "So Harold, who's this boy that you brought with you?"

"Oh, this here is my grandnephew Haru," Harold explained, "I had to bring him with me since both of his parents are going to be busy over the next few days. Don't worry, though, Haru here is a good kid."

"His name is Haru?" Lynn Sr. remarked in a mildly surprised tone, "That's not a name I'm familiar with."

"Yeah, we aren't from around these parts," Harold replied. Turning to face his grandnephew, Harold said, "Haru, little dude, can you do me a solid and keep yourself busy? I've got to do adult stuff now, and I don't want you getting bored."

"Oh, he can hang out with Luna's siblings," Lynn Sr. suggested, "In fact, he looks to be about the same age as my son Lincoln."

"Sounds cool, I guess," Haru replied with a shrug.

"Just don't do anything too rough, alright?" Luna said to her teacher's grandnephew, "Lincoln's been through some rough stuff recently, and we really want to let him take his time to heal."

"Oh yeah, I know what you're talking about," Harold commented, "Why, just the other week, Haru's little girlfriend seriously hurt herself because this teacher dude, whose name I forgot, used psycho mind trick powers to freak her and every other kid in the class out way too much. Haru was also in that class, but he was the only kid who didn't freak."

"Mom and dad warned me about that man," Haru commented, "Also, that man got into a _lot_ of trouble when word of what he did broke out."

"Well I hope that man got fired," Lynn Sr. remarked, "Because that's what we do with teachers like that here in Royal Woods, let me tell you!"

"Oh, the parents' union had a ball complaining about that dude," Harold remarked, "But that's beside the point." To Luna, the pink-haired man said, "Yo Luna, can you do your music teach here a favor and take my grandnephew inside to meet your siblings? I bet they'd have one hell of a time hanging out together."

"Sure thing, Harold-sensei," Luna replied. Luna turned to face Haru, gestured for him to follow her, and led the twelve-year-old boy inside to meet the rest of the Loud family.

* * *

In the Loud family's backyard, Lincoln, Lynn, Lucy, Lana and Lola were standing around with the grandnephew of Luna's teacher. "So, your name is Haru," Lynn said as she eyed the twelve-year-old raven-haired youth, "What do you do for fun?"

"Well I usually hang out with my friends when I'm not busy," Haru explained, "We usually do things like play video games and what-not."

"You play sports?" Lynn asked, "Because we have enough people here for two teams of three people for soccer."

"You kicked your only soccer ball onto the roof last week, remember?" Lana pointed out to her sporty older sister as she turned to point to something that was on the roof of their family's house; from the backyard, you can see a soccer ball on the roof. "There's no playing soccer when the only soccer ball we got is stuck on the roof," Lana continued, "Besides, you heard what mom said about-"

"I got it," Haru said, interrupting the tomboyish Loud sibling in the process, as he walked over to the outside wall of the Loud family's house. Suddenly, to the shock of the Loud siblings that were watching, Haru began to walk up the side of the house. _Walk_. As if the laws of gravity did not mean anything to him. After a few seconds, Haru made it to the roof where he walked over to the soccer ball, picked it up, and gently tossed it down into the backyard.

Looking around the roof, Haru said when he looked down at the Loud siblings, "There's a few more things up here like a frisbee and a boomerang. You all want I should get that stuff too?"

The kids who watched Haru all gasped in shock. "You just walked up a wall!" Lola cried out.

"It's magic!" Lana declared as she turned to face her siblings, "He must be a witch!"

"No, I'm not a witch," Haru replied as he called down to everyone, "And besides, wall-walking is considered a very normal skill where I come from. Pretty much everyone that I'm familiar with is capable of pulling it off."

As the raven-haired youth talked with the Loud siblings, the oldest Loud sibling, Lori, came walking out into the backyard. "Hey everyone," Lori said to her younger siblings, "Dad's going to be ordering some pizzas since we have guests, so I just wanted to see if…" The oldest Loud sibling stopped short upon noticing that all of her little siblings that were out in the backyard were looking at something on the roof. "…What going on?" Lori asked.

"You know that guy with the pink hair who taught Luna a lot about music?" Lucy asked, "Well, his grandnephew just walked up the side of the house to get Lynn's soccer ball down." Confused by what her gothic little sister said, Lori walked into the backyard, turned around and looked up at the roof, spotting Haru standing on the roof right away.

"What are you doing up there?!" Lori exclaimed at Haru.

"I was getting the soccer ball down," Haru explained, "There's also a few other things up here that I'm wondering if you all want me to get down as well."

"Well Leni said that she wants to get that boomerang down because she thinks this guy she has a crush on will like it as decoration, but that's beside the point," Lori replied, "Is what Lucy said about you literally walking up the side of our house true?"

"Oh yeah," Haru said as he proceeded to walk to the edge of the roof. In a very casual manner, Haru proceeded to walk down the side of the Loud family's residence. Walking up to Lori once he was on the ground, Haru said, "I can do much more than that." Haru then clasped his hands together as if he were praying, although both of his index fingers were both erect and pressed against each other. A cloud of white smoke then 'poofed' around Haru, and when it cleared, a perfect copy of Lori was standing in Haru's place.

"Ah!" Lana exclaimed as she pointed at the Haru-turned-Lori, "He just turned into Lori! He really is a witch!"

Another cloud of white smoke 'poofed' around the second Lori, and when it faded away, Haru had changed back to his original self. "For the last time, I'm not a witch," the raven-haired youth said to Lana, "Where I come from, stuff like this is pretty much standard stuff that everyone I'm familiar with can do."

"That's…a bit unsettling to know," Lori remarked.

Turning to face Lori, Haru said, "It's not too bad once you get used to it. But anywho, you said something about that boomerang, right?"

* * *

Later, Luna was talking with her dad, Chunk and Harold in the dining room. "So, Luna," Harold began, "Did you hear anything about how Haru's getting along with your siblings yet?"

"Well aside from the fact that Lana is asking for a chain of pure silver, a flask of holy water, a wooden crucifix and a string of garlic cloves, I think my sisters and Lincoln are getting along with Haru pretty great," the musical Loud sibling replied, "I bet they're all going to have a real blast at my performance this Friday."

"Hells yeah," Harold said in a tone of agreement as he raised a can of beer in a toast to his student, "You're going to blow everyone away for sure, dude!"

"Say guv," Chunk said to Harold, getting the older man's attention. Pointing to Luna, Chunk continued, "I'm just curious, but how is it that you came to know the young bird here?"

"I met her when she came into a music store one day," Harold began, "You see, I was giving guitar lessons, and Luna said that she had been at a concert the previous evening that she claimed had changed her life forever. Seeing that I was giving guitar lessons, Luna asked if I could teach her. I said that I would have no problem doing so long as she got a parent to agree. Luna's mom said yes, and so the lessons began."

"Oh, so _you_ ' _re_ the pink-haired man that my wife Rita was talking about that one time," Lynn Sr. remarked as he turned to face Harold, "And here I thought that my wife was making up a funny story to tell our youngest kids."

"Would you believe me if I told you that this is my natural hair color?" the pink-haired man replied, "Because it totally is. Naturally pink hair is a common trait for those who are born into the Fisher clan. Why, you should see my adult niece, who is also Haru's mother."

"So back to the main subject here," Lynn Sr. said, "What is this performance that Luna has this Friday about?"

"It's going to be the largest battle of the bands-type event this year," Harold explained, "And Luna will be taking part in it with her band." Crushing the now-empty beer can he was drinking from against his forehead, Harold let out a loud belch before saying, "There is nothing a teacher likes more than to see his student shine at their biggest moment of success."

"Well shucks, Harold-sensei," Luna replied in a mildly bashful manner, "You didn't have to come all this way just to see me rock out."

"There's more to it than just that," Harold continued, "This battle of the bands is a kind of concert, yes?"

"Yeah, Harold-sensei," Luna replied, "Why do you ask?"

"Well I'm going to be bringing Haru with me," Harold explained, "And he's never been to a concert before, so this will be his first."

"Your grandson's never been to a concert before?!" a female voice said from the doorway, making everyone turn to see Lori, Leni, Luan and Lynn standing there. It had been Luan who spoke out. "Don't let Luna take him to his first concert," Luan continued, "She has a nasty habit of ruining everyone's first concert experience."

"Oh, come on, I'm sure it isn't that bad," Harold dismissed casually, "Besides, Luna can't take Haru to the battle of the bands because she's going to be _performing_ at the battle of the bands."

"Oh," Lori said, "Well in that case, then your grandson's going to have one hell of a time. Luna may not be the best person in the world at taking people to their first concerts, but if there's anyone who can perform, it's her."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, girls," Luna said in a sarcastic tone, annoyed that her tendency to ruin first concert experiences was brought up.

"Umm, Haru's my grandnephew, not my grandson," Harold pointed out.

"The principle's the same if you think about it," Lynn replied, "Look, the point is that Luna's totally going to rock that battle of the bands, regardless who's going to go up against her." With a confident nod of her head, Lynn said, "There's no way that Luna's going down on Friday."

"So long as she does her best and does right by everyone, she'll be fine," Harold remarked, "That's one of the things I taught her. Well, that and how to focus the dank powers of awesome and rock to pull off all sorts of crazy shenanigans."

"Like levitating while sitting in a meditative pose?" Luan asked.

Eyes widening in alarm, Luna said, "Dude, you weren't supposed to-"

"Luna, my student, relax," Harold interrupted, "In a family as big as yours, the crazy awesome skills that you have were bound to be discovered by your family at some point. So long as they keep their lips sealed on the subject, there shouldn't be any harm in letting them know."

Giving her sensei an unsure look, Luna replied, "Are you sure, Harold-sensei?"

"My wife Sophia knows of some of the dank things I can pull off, and she has promised me that she will never tell anyone," Harold explained, "There is no biggie at all."

Sighing in a resigned tone, Luna said, "Well, if you say so, Harold-sensei." Turning to face her siblings, Luna said, "Alright, girls. What Luan said is true. I can, in fact, levitate while I'm meditating, assuming that I'm doing so to focus on my awesome and rock."

"Can you walk up walls like your teacher's grandson?" Lynn asked.

"Grandnephew," Harold corrected, "And wall walking has nothing to do with the dank powers of awesome and rock."

"Our sister Lana thinks that your grandnephew is a witch," Lori said, "Is that true?"

With a mildly confused look on his face, Harold replied, "Do ninjas count as witches?"

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER NINTEEN

Author's notes:

…So yeah, this arc is something of a crossover between two of my stories (I'm aiming for a few of my stories to belong in something of a shared universe). I have no idea how well the idea of a multi-story crossover will sit with everyone, but I've been wanting to experiment with the idea either way. But anywho, Harold Fisher is an OC of mine that first appears in 'Harold Fisher: Legend of Konoha', the first ever fic that I got up onto this site.

However, you all can rest assured that non-Loud House characters will take no part in resolving the main conflict in this arc; Haru will help Luna get to where she needs to go in order to confront the antagonist (Haru won't stick around to help Luna confront the antagonist, as it will be something that she has to do on her own) of this arc, and Harold will provide some sage advice in a rather unconventional manner, but that's the limit. Non-Loud House characters are here only to just chillax and hang out with the Louds, as well as provide a few bits of humor. But anywho, the antagonist of this arc will show up in the next chapter.

As a side note, when I was brainstorming what to do for Luna's arc, I wanted to draw some inspiration from various images from 1980's music albums, specifically the ones that just scream awesome and rock. Given that Luna is the sister of focus this time around, I figured that rock music had to pop up in some form.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter twenty: Awesome Rock part two- The cloud

Luna was over at the music store in the Royal Woods Mall, looking to get a few packs of spare guitar strings. The musical Loud sibling had a battle of the bands-type event coming up, so it was better to be safe than sorry. What made this particular guitar string run interesting for Luna was that she was accompanied by Sam, a girl who attends Royal Woods High School same as Luna, and who just so happens to be Luna's crush.

"…She does realize that what she's asking for is more effective in dealing with vampires than witches," Sam remarked as the two fifteen-year-old girls talked to each other, "Right?"

"Luckily for us, Lucy was able to correct Lana in short order," Luna replied.

"Man, there's never a dull moment at your place, is there?" Sam asked Luna without even looking up from the selection of guitar string packs.

Having heard her crush speak up, the musical Loud sibling turned to face her. "You know it, dude," Luna said, "Unless you count nighttime when everyone is asleep, of course."

"Heh, we can't be up all the time," Sam remarked. Deciding to change the subject, Sam said, "So Luna, you said that this Friday is going to be the first time your music teacher's grandnephew has ever been to a live music performance. Is that true?"

"Yeah," Luna replied. With a bit of an amused look, Luna continued, "The little dude said that he was kind of hoping that he could have brought his girlfriend with him."

"Oh," Sam said in a mildly amused tone, "He's got a girlfriend, does he?"

"Yeah, and I even asked him a little bit about the subject," Luna remarked, "Although the subject did make him look a bit uncomfortable."

"What happened, exactly?" Sam asked. Luna then proceeded to tell Sam the story that her teacher's grandnephew told her, starting with something involving some sort of exam…

(TWO HOURS LATER)

"…Leading to that exam proctor being forcibly retired," Luna said as she wrapped up the story, "Silver lining, Haru became something called a chunnin when all was said and done."

Sam could only stare at her musically inclined friend with a wide-eyed expression of shock. It took a few moments for Sam to find her voice, although she had quite a bit to say when she did find her voice. "That…" Sam began, "…That man was seriously messed up! How the hell did he think that doing that was a good idea?!"

"Worse yet, Harold-sensei and some of his friends tried to help break that proctor guy of his habit," Luna continued. With a mildly disappointed look, Luna added, "Unfortunately, they all ended up failing to help that proctor guy."

"Well I hope that Haru's little girlfriend makes a speedy recovery, Luna," Sam remarked, "She sounds like too nice of a kid to go through crud like that."

Nodding in agreement, Luna replied, "I hope she recovers quickly as well."

"Speaking of cool kids being thrown through the wringer," Sam remarked, "How's your little brother doing, Luna?"

"You mean Lincoln?" the musical Loud sibling asked. After receiving a nod in the affirmative from her crush, Luna continued, "He's doing well enough now. He's back to the best shape he can be since his most recent trip to the hospital, so that's something."

"Yeah," Sam remarked, "It kind of sucks what happened to his leg, huh?" The musical Loud sibling nodded in agreement with her crush; although her father Lynn Sr. wants to keep it under wraps at least until Lincoln returns to school, the Loud sisters have told some people in their social circles about Lincoln's horrifically battered left leg. Aside from Sam, others who know include Maggie, a friend of Luan's, Haiku, a girl who is friends with Lucy, and Clyde, Lincoln's best friend (Clyde found out about Lincoln's injury by accident). Other than that, no one that the Loud siblings associate with is aware of the sole Loud boy's injury.

"Harold-sensei said that he knows some people where he lives that he believes can do something about Lincoln's injury," Luna remarked, "But that's a long time off, if at all."

"If people from where your music teacher comes from can do something about it, then all the more power to them," Sam said, "Your little brother shouldn't have to go through all of the crap related to having an injury like that."

"Boy, ain't that the truth," Luna replied, sharing a good laugh with the girl who had a streak of color in her otherwise entirely blonde hair.

"So, Luna, you got everything you need?" Sam asked once the chuckling simmered down.

"Yeah, I grabbed everything I needed," Luna replied. The musical Loud sibling and her crush proceeded to head to the counter in the store so that they could pay for what they were picking up for their appearance in the upcoming battle of the bands. As the two fifteen-year-old girls paid for their stuff, Luna felt as if she was going to enjoy this day.

* * *

Over in the residential area of Royal Woods, Lynn Sr. was having a drink or two with Harold and Howard McBride, Mr. Grouse, and Harold Fisher. "So, Fisher," Mr. Grouse began, "I heard some of Lynn's kids saying that your grandnephew is some sort of witch."

"Oh, that was just my daughter Lana letting her imagination run wild," Lynn Sr. said to his elderly neighbor, "In fact, Luna's music tutor was kind enough to play along with the little game of pretend that Lana had going."

"Pretend?" Harold Fisher replied in a confused tone, "What are you talking about?"

"Your grandnephew really can't walk up walls," Lynn Sr. replied. With a hint of uncertainty in his tone, the Loud patriarch added, "Can he?"

"Can he?" Harold Fisher replied, "Why, not only is Haru capable of walking up walls, but he can also create duplicates of himself, shoot giant spheres of fire, and transform into perfect copies of other people. Heck, I was the one who taught Haru that last one!"

"Oh, that is rich, Mr. Fisher," Howard laughed in a good-natured tone. The unamused look on the Fisher man's face spoke volumes of how unfunny he found not being believed.

"…Very well then," Harold Fisher said, "If you guys don't believe me, then I'll have to show you. I don't suppose any of you can provide me with a picture of someone you know, preferably a full-body picture so I know how they look like overall?"

"Oh, I have a full-body picture of my daughter Lori's boyfriend Bobby on my phone," Lynn Sr. said as he pulled out a smartphone, "Bobby had meant to send it to Lori, but somehow sent it to me instead on accident." Pulling up the picture on his smartphone, Lynn Sr. turned it around to show it to Harold Fisher. "Here's Bobby," Lynn Sr. said.

"Hmm…" the Fisher man said as he considered the picture of Bobby, "…Okay, that'll work!" Harold then clasped his hands together, his fingers folding down save for his index fingers which he kept erect and pressed against each other. Suddenly, to the shock of the other four men, the Fisher man was engulfed in a cloud of white smoke that poofed in out of nowhere to engulf the pink-haired man. When the smoke faded away, it was seen that in place of Harold Fisher stood Bobby Santiago.

Holding his arms out at length, Bobby said in Harold Fisher's voice, "So guys, what do you all think? Pretty cool, huh?"

"I…I think that Lynn's one daughter had a point about your grandnephew being a witch, if you were the one who taught him how to do stuff like this," Mr. Grouse remarked in a shocked expression; Lynn Sr. and the McBrides were of the same opinion as the Loud family's elderly next-door neighbor.

"If ninjas count as witches, then I guess so," Harold Fisher said, still in the guise of Lori's Boo-Boo Bear. Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door, catching the attention of the five men.

"I'll get that, fellas," Mr. Grouse said as he got up; given that the men were enjoying drinks over at Mr. Grouse's place, it was only natural that Mr. Grouse be the one to answer the door. Upon opening the door, Mr. Grouse was greeted by the sight of Lynn Sr.'s daughter Lori.

"I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Grouse, but my mom literally needs to talk to my dad about something," Lori remarked, "Is he still over here?"

"Hey Loud!" Mr. Grouse called into his house, "Your daughter is here!"

"Which one?" Lynn Sr. asked as he, the McBrides and the still-disguised Harold Fisher walked into the living room. Upon seeing the disguised Harold Fisher, Lori gasped before squealing in delight, then ran right over to the pink-haired man and threw her arms around his shoulders.

"Bobby Boo-Boo Bear!" Lori said as she squeezed the disguised Harold Fisher, "I can't believe you came back to Royal Woods for a visit!"

His glance shifting to Lynn Sr., the McBrides and Mr. Grouse, the disguised Harold Fisher said in a harsh whisper, "I need an adult! I need an adult!" Harold went into full-blown freak out mode when Lori suddenly planted a kiss on his right cheek, making the disguised pink-haired man leap out of her grasp. "No es bueno! That's no es bueno!" Harold Fisher exclaimed as he frantically waived his arms around.

With a look of confused heartbreak on her face, Lori said, "Bobby? I-is something the matter?"

"I'm not really that Bobby dude that you keep bringing up!" Harold Fisher exclaimed before a cloud of white smoke poofed up around his disguised form; when the smoke cleared, the pink-haired man had returned to his original form. Upon seeing the Fisher man return to his true form, Lori cried out in alarm and disgust.

"MR. FISHER?!" Lori exclaimed between spitting in disgust, "WHAT IS LITERALLY THE HELL WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"You dad and his friends didn't believe me when I said that I taught Haru how to transform," Harold Fisher explained as he freaked out just as much as Lori, "So I decided to show them my own ability to transform! I turned into that Bobby dude because your dad showed me a picture of him that he had on his phone!"

"Dad!" Lori exclaimed at her father.

"I had no idea you'd be coming over!" Lynn Sr. replied in his defense.

* * *

A few minutes after the kerfuffle over at Mr. Grouse's house, Luna and Sam walked into the Loud family's house, their trip to the mall successful. They were greeted by the sight of Lincoln and Harold sitting on the couch playing a two-player fighting game while Haru watched; from what Luna saw, her pink-haired music tutor was losing.

Noticing that the girls and Haru returned, Harold paused the game, prompting Lincoln and Haru to look over and see Luna and Sam as well. "Well if it isn't the returning heroes," Harold said, "I trust that your trip to the mall was productive, my young student?"

"I got the extra strings I'll be needing for Friday," Luna replied, "So how was things while Sam and I were gone?"

"Well other than the fact that your older sister bad touched me, everything went pretty smoothly," Harold replied in a casual tone, "Heck, your little brother and I have even played a few rounds of some fighting game that I'm meaning to get a copy of my own at some point."

Smiling, Luna said, "That sounds terrific, Harold-sensei. Not the part about either Lori or Leni supposedly bad touching you, but the part about Lincoln having fun. The little dude deserves to have a break, you know?"

"Oh totally," Harold said in a tone of agreement, "Hell, I bet he'd have loads of fun hanging out with Haru and all of Haru's little friends." Haru himself nodded in agreement.

"Sounds pretty cool, Mr. Fisher," Lincoln remarked, getting everyone to turn to face him.

"Little dude, you're the cool one," Harold said, "And I'm not just saying that because you whooped my ass at a fighting game fifty-seven times in a row, which obviously indicates that you're in possession of some mad skills. From what your older sister Luna told me, you've tanked some pretty serious hits and lived to tell the tale. Hell, I bet half the people that I know back where Haru and I come from wouldn't be able to survive half the crap that's been thrown in your direction as of late!" Once again, Haru nodded in agreement.

"Harold-sensei has a point, Lincoln," Luna remarked to her little brother, "You having gone through as much as you have as of late, but still being here with us today, it's…" Stopping short, Luna had to steady her nerves a bit to keep from crying. "…It's nothing short of a miracle, little dude," the musical Loud sibling continued, "I have no clue what we'd do around here if you weren't here."

A small but sympathetic smile on his face, Lincoln looked up at Luna and said, "Thanks, Luna." The two Loud siblings then proceeded to hug each other, a heartwarming sight that made everyone watching go 'aww'. Sam even covered her chest with her hands, a gesture to convey that she was touched on an emotional level.

"Oh Luna," Harold said suddenly, "Before I forget, I got something that may help give you a slight edge during the battle of the bands this Friday."

"A slight edge?" Luna repeated in a mildly confused tone once she let go of Lincoln, "What are you talking about, Harold-sensei?"

Not saying anything, Harold walked out of the living room, but walked back in about a minute later while carrying a guitar case. Laying the guitar case on the floor, Harold said as he started to open the case, "I figured that there'd be no harm in letting you borrow this for the battle of the bands this Friday." The guitar case popped open, revealing the electric guitar that laid inside. It was a custom electric guitar; its body when viewed from the side looked like a goat's skull, its headstock looked like a billowing flame, and even the ends of the tuning keys looked like little flames. "Behold," Harold said as he lifted the custom electric guitar out of its case, "Axeimum the Awesomeslayer!"

"Woah, dude!" Sam exclaimed as she and everyone else beheld the awesome custom electric guitar, "That axe looks totally sick!"

Handing the epic guitar over to Luna, Harold said, "You do know of the legend of Axeimum the Awesomeslayer, do you not, my young student?"

"I have studied the legend very well, Harold-sensei," the musical Loud sibling replied as she reverently received Axeimum the Awesomeslayer from her tutor.

"I have taught you very well about the dank powers of awesome and rock, and I have the utmost faith in you," the pink-haired man said, "But even so, I need to stress the importance of handling Axeimum the Awesomeslayer with the proper care and respect. Its power isn't to be trifled with, my young student."

"I understand completely, Harold-sensei," Luna replied as she bowed respectfully to her tutor.

"I have faith in Luna that she'll do just fine in handling your guitar, Mr. Fisher," Lincoln remarked to Harold in a confidant tone, "My older sister here takes music very seriously. She won't do wrong by your guitar, sir. I guarantee it."

"Ah, it's good to see that you have such trust in your older sister, young man," Harold said. Ruffling the top of the sole Loud boy's head, Harold continued, "My student is lucky to have a younger brother like you, that's for sure!" Everyone in the living room then shared a laugh.

* * *

Later, Luna, Sam and a few of their friends from Royal Woods High School were hanging out in the Loud family's garage, practicing their music. As Luna was playing a song on Axeimum the Awesomeslayer, one of the boys in the group said, "Whoa, dude, that guitar is awesome! Where did you get it from?"

"My music tutor is letting me borrow it," Luna replied as she stopped mid-song to answer her friend's question.

"Her music tutor is a pretty sick dude," Sam remarked to the boy in their group who spoke up, "In fact, the guy can-" Sam was cut off when a loud panicked scream filled the air; judging by the sound of it, the scream had come from somewhere near the front area of the Loud family's property, and that the scream had come from one of Luna's younger sisters. Most likely Lola, if Luna's guess was correct.

Alarmed, Luna set down the epic guitar she was using as she and her friends all ran out of the garage to see what was going on. When the musically inclined teenagers got to the front yard, what they bore witness to shocked all of them, Luna especially; Lincoln was laying on the ground, looking rather beaten up. Lori was trying to pick him up to carry him back into the house, Luan was dialing a number on her phone, and Lisa was crying her eyes out. The twins stood nearby, with fearful looks on their faces as both of them struggled not to lose it; Lori and Luan were likewise trying not to cry.

"Dudes! What happened here?!" Luna exclaimed in alarm.

"These two men parked in front of our front yard while Lola and Lana were playing around with Lincoln supervising them," Luan said as she struggled to hold back her tears, "They got out, went over to Lincoln, and suddenly started to beat him up. According to Lana, the two men both got back into their car and took off when Lisa screamed in a loud and panicked tone."

"That was Lisa who I heard screaming?" Luna said, the barest hint of confusion seeping into her overall very upset tone.

"I'm c-calling the police right n-now to tell them what happened," Luan informed her older sister and roommate as she stammered, her efforts to keep from crying starting to fail, "They should be here soon to interview us and start investigating who those two men who beat Lincoln up were." The musical Loud sibling turned to her younger sisters Lola and Lana, walked up to them, and knelt down to be at eyelevel with them.

"Is there anything about the two men you saw that may help the police find out who those two men were?" Luna asked.

"I-I-I heard one of those b-brutes say 'let's see how the boss-man likes it if we beat up his son'," Lola said with a bit of stammering, clearly about to lose it, "I think that the t-t-two men who beat up Lincoln is m-mad at dad for s-s-some reason."

"Wait a minute," Luna said in a mildly confused tone, "That doesn't make any sense. Dad works as the co-chef over at Aloha Comrade. I don't think that there is anyone who works under him." Getting up from her kneeling, Luna proceeded to walk down the sidewalk, leaving Loud family property.

"Hey Luna, where are you going?" Luan asked as she watched her older sister take off.

"I…I need to clear my head," the musical Loud sibling replied just before she left.

* * *

Luna could not believe it. Once again, her little brother, her _only_ brother, was thrown through the wringer. Worse yet, he was targeted by two men that apparently had a beef with working under Luna's dad, even though the Loud family patriarch didn't really have anyone working under him. This mystery was causing the musical Loud sibling much confusion, not to mention a great deal of inner turmoil.

Through her walking, Luna went through an open grassy field, with nothing around for quite some distance. Alone and with nothing anywhere nearby, Luna turned her head up to face the sky before she screamed, letting out her confusion and anger, her anguish and heartbreak. There were no words to Luna's scream, just volume and emotion.

When her scream was done, Luna hung her head, breathing in and out to try and steady herself. As she did this, Luna felt a gust of wind blow around her, prompting her to look up. When she did, she saw the clouds themselves change and shift, as if intentionally forming a shape. When all of that was done, Luna saw, to her shock, that the giant cloud that she was looking at looked very much similar to the head of her music tutor, Harold Fisher. Suddenly, the mouth on the image of Harold's head started to move.

"Behold, for I am Mufasa," the image of Harold's head said in the clouds. The cloud image spoke with a loud, booming voice, yet Luna had the feeling that only she could hear it.

"H-Harold-sensei?" Luna said, more confused than anything, "Is that you?"

"Yes, my young student," said the image of Harold.

"H-how are you talking to me like this?" the musical Loud sibling asked, shocked beyond words.

"I heard whispers on the wind that you were in great anguish," Harold's image replied in a kind and gentle tone, "So I am using my supreme mastery over the dank powers of awesome and rock to communicate to you via the cloud."

"I…don't think that this is what people refer to when they mention the cloud," Luna pointed out, "Although it's still pretty awesome either way."

"Cloudtalk is indeed a very dank and awesome power," Harold's image replied, "But that is beside the point. What troubles you, my young student?"

"It's my little brother, Harold-sensei," Luna said as she looked up at the clouds, "These two jerks who have a beef with my dad for some odd reason decided to beat up Lincoln. While the little dude was looking after Lola and Lana, no less! Can you imagine what the twins must be feeling, watching Lincoln get beaten up by two grown men?"

"This is indeed a most troubling revelation, my young student," Harold's image replied, "And you can rest assured that my grandnephew and I shall be there for your family if you need it."

Smiling, Luna said, "Thanks you, Harold-sensei. But still…" Shaking her head gently, Luna said, "Still…This is total fucking bullshit! I'm tired of so many bad things happening to my little brother without me being able to do a damn thing about any of it!"

"If that is the case, you know what you must do," Harold's image replied, "Luna, my young student, you must find the two men who had beaten your little brother and, using Axeimum the Awesomeslayer, play a song so epic that the two men will be punished by the dank powers of awesome and rock."

Luna's eyes widened with shock for a moment, but only just. The musical Loud sibling realized full well that her music tutor was right. Only by using the dank powers of awesome and rock to take vengeance against those who had harmed Lincoln would justice be served. To the image in the clouds of her tutor, Luna nodded her head once in a gesture of respect. "Thank you, Harold-sensei," Luna said with the utmost respect. Turning around, Luna walked away as the image of Harold faded from the clouds.

Whispering to herself, Luna said, "I know what I must do."

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWENTY

Author's notes:

Originally, I had it in mind for Haru to be at the mall with Luna and Sam, but after some toying around, I decided to edit this chapter so that it was only Luna and Sam who went to the mall. Luna's time in the spotlight will wrap up in the next chapter, but never let it be said that Luna isn't the kind of person who doesn't go out with a bang.

As a side note, Axeimum the Awesomeslayer first appears in 'Harold Fisher: Legend of Konoha' chapter thirty-one. If any of you have any interest in learning about its legend in full, you know where to go to check it out.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter twenty-one: Awesome Rock part three- Burning flames of justice

Luna Loud decided to do a bit of snooping around on her own, to gather evidence and testimony concerning her little brother Lincoln getting beaten up by two grown men, seemingly out of the blue, while the sole Loud boy was supervising the twins Lola and Lana while they were playing outside. The first thing that Luna did was talk to the twins about what they told the police.

Lola said that the two men both looked like men with blue collar jobs; they both wore white shirts under plaid shirts that were open in the front, blue jeans, dark colored boots, and the men both had longish brown hair. Lana further elaborated that both men had mullets, one man had a green plaid shirt and brown boots while the other had a red plaid shirt and black boots, the green plaid shirt guy had a moustache, and the two men were in a fairly beaten up-looking red pick-up truck. Lana said that the truck still looked to be in somewhat better shape than Vanzilla, though.

After jotting down everything the twins said about what happened, Luna then went to Aloha Comrade Hawaiian Russian Fusion Restaurant, the place where her dad Lynn Sr. currently works as the co-chef. Luna had asked to speak with Sergei, the head chef of the multicultural establishment. "Those men don't sound familiar to me," Sergei said when Luna asked him about the two men the twins had described, "And I can certainly say that your dad doesn't have anyone working under him. This might be a case of mistaken identity, if you ask me."

Luna nodded once in thanks before she took her leave in order to continue her investigation. Upon leaving Aloha Comrade, Luna was surprised when someone seemingly landed in front of her on their feet. However, Luna instantly recognized the person as Haru, the twelve-year-old grandnephew of Harold Fisher, Luna's music tutor. "How's it going, Luna?" Haru asked.

"I just found out that my little brother might have been beaten up because of a case of mistaken identity," the musical Loud sibling explained, a mild hint of frustration in her tone.

"You said that you got notes from your little sisters about the two men and their getaway vehicle, right?" Haru asked, "Can you show me? I might be able to help you track the two guys down."

"Really?" Luna replied, a mildly confused look on her face.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Haru explained, "It wouldn't be the first time I was given a description of someone that needed to be tracked down. Of course, the first time I did that, it was a cat I had to bring back to its owner."

Luna was mildly apprehensive of recruiting her tutor's grandnephew to help her, mostly because she wanted to do this on her own. But since she hit something of a dead end, Luna relented and handed Haru a little spiral-bound notebook. "The notes I jotted down are on the first page," Luna explained as she handed the notebook over.

Flipping the notebook over, Haru scanned the words that Luna wrote. "I see," the raven-haired youth remarked as he read the notes, "I see, I s- HOLY CRUD!"

"Little dude?" Luna said in a curious tone, caught off guard by Haru suddenly exclaiming something.

"I just need you to clarify something for me really quick," Haru said. Looking around the parking lot of Aloha Comrade, Haru spotted a pickup truck that was mostly green and looked to be in relatively good condition. "That's a pickup truck, right?" Haru asked as he pointed the green pickup truck out to Luna.

"Yeah, that's a pickup truck," Luna replied in a mildly confused tone, "What, you don't see a lot of pickup trucks over where you and Harold-sensei live?"

"Not really, although I have seen pictures of them once or twice before," Haru explained, "But that's beside the point. I've seen a truck that matches the description of the one in your notes when I was making my way here since your little sisters told me you were heading over here."

"You've seen the truck?" Luna asked, her eyes widening with surprise.

Nodding once, Haru said, "It was parked in a driveway of a house in a neighborhood that I passed on my way here. The neighborhood looks like it's populated mainly by people from those funny blue-collar movies that my Uncle Harold and his friends like so much." Turning around, Haru continued, "If you want, I can take you over there. I'll have to take off as soon as I drop you off, but you should be able to make your way back home." Luna nodded in agreement as she asked Haru to lead the way.

Kneeling down slightly, Haru replied, "It'd be quicker if you just climbed onto my back and let me carry you over."

"Are…are you sure?" Luna replied, a confused look on her face.

"I'm a lot stronger than I look," Haru replied, "It helps that my mom taught me this one trick that lets me enhance my strength."

Knowing about the things that people from where Harold lives are capable of doing, Luna decided to let Haru carry her on his back. After she climbed on, Haru leapt up into the air, landed on the roof of a nearby building, and proceeded to run along the roofs of various building, leaping from rooftop to rooftop as needed. Luna, with the guitar case over her back bouncing along with every leap, felt like she had never been on a wilder ride in all of her life.

* * *

In one of the neighborhoods of Royal Woods, two blue collar men were standing outside in the front yard of one of the houses. A red pickup truck, that looked somewhat beaten up, sat in the driveway of the house. The two men were talking while one of them, the one wearing green, was tending to some meat that he was cooking on a barbecue grill.

"Hey Buck," the man wearing the green plaid shirt said, "I thought that the boss man only had one kid. What was with those little girls at the place earlier?"

"No clue Gary," said the man wearing the red plaid shirt, apparently named Buck, "Maybe the boss man has more kids than just a son."

"And another thing," the man wearing the green plaid shirt, apparently named Gary, said as he continued, "I was told that the boss man's son had dark reddish hair, but that kid that we beat up had ashy white hair." With a mild hint of worry in his tone, Gary continued, "Buck, you don't think that the kid we whumped was the wrong kid, do you?"

"Boy, I'll say you beat up the wrong kid," a mysterious female voice called out, getting Gary and Buck to look around to see who had spoken up. It was Buck who first spotted Luna standing on the roof of the house that they were at, but the two men in plaid had no clue who the musically inclined Loud sibling was. Luna was also holding Axeimum the Awesomeslayer, not that either of the two men recognized the truly epic and awesome legendary guitar.

"Hey kid," Buck said as he pointed up at Luna in an accusatory manner, "What are you doing up there? Also, how did you get up there?"

"My little sisters told me that they saw our brother get beaten up by two grown men before said men took off," Luna replied without answering any of the questions that was asked of her, "The two of you both match the description of the two men that my sisters gave me." Looking over to the driveway, Luna got a good look at the slightly beat up looking pickup truck that sat there.

Turning her attention back to Gary and Buck, Luna continued, "And your truck matches what my sisters said the getaway vehicle looks like. Not only that, but I did just hear the two of you talking about beating up my little brother." Her gaze narrowing slightly, the musical Loud sibling continued, "I don't suppose that you two would care to explain, would you?"

"That kid we beat up is your brother, right?" Buck said, "Then that means that the boss man is your dad as well! That dad of yours has a lot of nerve, trying to run the sewage treatment plant like a business center full of cubicles! He even has us wear suits to the job! Wearing suits, to a job at a sewage treatment plant! What the actual hell?!"

"Sewage treatment plant?" Luna repeated in a confused tone, "What the hell are you guys talking about? My dad works over at Aloha Comrade!" Upon hearing that information from Luna, the two men went wide-eyed with shock before turning to face each other.

"…Buck, I think that we really did get the wrong kid by mistake," Gary said in a worried tone.

"And now you men will pay for that mistake," Luna declared as she held up a guitar pick. The musical Loud sibling then did play an epic song of awesome on Axeimum the Awesomeslayer.

And lo, a great pillar of flames did shoot up out of the barbecue grill, burning the food that was being cooked into a fine powdery ash in the process. A large crack appeared in the front yard as the very ground shook, tearing the yard asunder as steam from the bowels of the earth shot up from the crack and into the sky. In a blue jay nest that was in a nearby tree, the eggs hatched into full-grown bald eagles. In a bald eagle nest that was on the roof of a church across the street, the eggs hatched into explosions.

When Luna played a particularly epic chord, a sonic wave did emanate from Axeimum the Awesomeslayer, flying right at Gary and Buck, assaulting them with a pounding sonic wave of awesome and rock. Gary was particularly harmed by the epic rock, as his face shifted and began to melt, causing him to scream in agony and pain.

"We gotta get inside!" Buck exclaimed upon seeing his friend's face starting to melt. However, before the two men could even get close to the house's front door, a crack appeared along the pavement in front of the front door, and a great wall of fire shot up out of the crack, blocking the men from being able to escape into the house.

"To the truck, man!" Buck exclaimed in steadily growing panic as he led his friend to the truck. The two men managed to get inside the truck, Buck stuck the keys into the ignition, turned them, and was able to pull out of the driveway to start driving away. As the two men tried to flee, Luna played another chord on Axeimum the Awesomeslayer.

As Luna played that chord, the fire from the crack near the front door flew up and flew right at the fleeing truck. The aim was true, and the truck was struck by the homing flames, getting blown up as a result. The explosion was so loud, so grand, that it was bound to get attention.

"I…should probably make like a bird flying south for the winter and get the duck out of here," Luna remarked to herself as she stopped playing Axeimum the Awesomeslayer upon witnessing the truck blowing up; it was not her intention to have the truck blow up, as she only wanted to hit it in the side, making it spin before it hit a parked car (Luna was even trying to aim for it). "The sooner I get out of here," Luna continued to herself in a worried tone, "The better. It'd be really bad if I was seen around here."

Quickly making her way off of the roof of the house that she was standing on, Luna got her feet back onto solid ground. Once she did, Luna looked around quickly, got a general idea of where she was at, then proceeded to run like hell as quickly as she could, lest she be spotted in that area when people undoubtedly would begin to come out and investigate the explosion they heard. She did not expect her efforts to have _that_ _much_ of an effect.

* * *

"…blew up in the Royal Woods neighborhood of Country Comfort earlier today," a news reporter said as the Loud family, Harold Fisher and Harold's grandnephew Haru were watching a breaking news report on the TV in the Loud family's living room at their house, "The two men who were in the truck when it exploded, Gary Freeman and Buck Hunter, died in the explosion. An investigation launched by local law enforcement deduced that the truck blew up due to internal problems such as a leaky gas tank. And now onto sports. Roger?"

Right as the sports section of the news started up, the front door of the Loud family's house was opened, and when everyone turned to see what it was, they saw Luna walk back into the house. "Luna, my student," Harold said in greeting, "Glad to see that you made your way back. Did you have fun while you were out?"

"Of course, Harold-sensei," Luna replied as she nodded once in the affirmative, "I just had to take care of some…urgent business that I had."

"Did you hear?" Rita said to her musically inclined daughter, "A truck blew up in one of the neighborhoods here in Royal Woods earlier!"

"A truck blew up?" Luna said, looking mildly alarmed; the alarmed look was flawless acting on Luna's part, however, acting that fooled everyone.

"Two men who were in the truck both perished in the explosion," Rita continued in a worried tone, "Oh, if it wasn't for the fact that we have someone like Lana looking after Vanzilla's needs, I'd have gotten your father to replace it ages ago!"

"Well don't worry mom," Lana said with a hint of smugness in her tone, "As long as I'm around, Vanzilla will stay running."

"Well I hope that you and stayed safe while you were out," Lynn Sr. said, "With everything on the news as of late talking about either some trucks blowing up or people being killed, a man can't help but worry about his kids, you know?" With a mildly confused look on his face, Lynn Sr. asked, "Speaking of you being out Luna, what were you up to? Just getting some fresh air, I take it?"

"Yeah, I just needed to get out for a bit," Luna replied, "Getting some fresh air, just like you said, pops." Sniffing the air, Luna asked, "Is that pizza?"

"Yeah, we're having pizza for dinner," Lynn Sr. replied as he nodded once in the affirmative. Turning to face Harold and Haru, Lynn Sr. continued, "Say Harold, would you and Haru care to join us for dinner?"

"Sure, why not?" Harold replied with a casual shrug. Turning his attention to Haru, Harold said, "What do you think, little dude? Pizza sound good?"

"I have no objections," Haru replied.

With a mildly amused smile on his face, Harold turned back to face Lynn Sr. and Rita and said, "Well, there you have it. We'll be glad to join you all for dinner."

…

And so, Harold and his grandnephew joined the Loud family for dinner that evening. Due to the increased number of people that are having dinner, both the kiddy table and the main table had to be used, something that hadn't been seen since Lynn Sr. and Rita decided to do away with the concept of the kiddy table. The five youngest Loud girls, Lincoln and Haru sat at the kiddy table while the five oldest Loud girls, Lynn Sr., Rita and Harold sat at the main table. The guests of the evening were even kind enough to entertain their hosts with stories of things that occurred back where they lived.

"…And that's how my Uncle Harold and his friends made a supercar," Haru said to Lincoln and the five youngest Loud girls, "It was the coolest car I ever saw in my life. Uncle Harold and his friends even used it in a fundraiser to raise a lot of money!"

"I wish I could ride in a car like that," Lana remarked, "It sounds totally awesome."

"And that's not even the coolest thing that Uncle Harold and his friends did," Haru replied, "You guys wanna hear about the time that they met Santa Claus and saved Christmas?"

"They met Santa Claus and saved Christmas," Lisa said in her usual dry monotone, "Yeah, like that's believable."

"Oh no," Haru continued, "They actually did that. In fact, Uncle Harold told me how he and his friends flew from home to home to deliver gifts to all of the kids…"

Meanwhile, a different story was being told by Harold over at the main table. "Yeah, she's got about twenty pounds or so left to lose the last time I checked," Harold remarked, "Hell, I bet that the dudes back home made some progress on that while Haru and I are here."

"You and your friends helped a local overweight woman lose weight," Rita began in a mildly confused tone, "By dancing?"

"Hey now," Harold replied as he pointed to Rita, "The power of dance is almost as potent a power as the dank power of awesome and rock. It is very difficult to master."

"Harold-sensei is right, mom," Luna remarked before she took a bite out of her slice of pizza.

"So, Luna," Lynn began, "Your battle of the bands is tomorrow night. You think you're ready to wow everyone?"

"I don't _think_ I'm ready, mom," Luna said, "I _know_ I'm ready."

"It is good that you have faith in yourself, my young student," Harold remarked, "You were ready for an event such as the one tomorrow night ages ago. I have no doubt that you and your band will achieve awesome immortality." Giving Luna a pat on the back, Harold continued, "You got this."

"Thanks, Harold-sensei," Luna replied, a small but sincere smile on her face.

"Ah, forget about it," Harold said, "But anywho, I'm wondering how that brother of yours was treated and released so quickly. Are there medics in Royal Woods like the medics back where Haru and I come from?"

* * *

The following evening, a stage was set up over at the Royal Woods community center for the battle of the bands performance that was taking place. People from all over Royal Woods, along with a few people from outside of Royal Woods, came to watch the showdown between multiple bands. The music was loud, the light effects were dazzling, and even the very air itself seemed to be electrified.

Luna, Sam and a few of their friends were having their go at rocking out. Their music was by far the best that had been played so far; from the looks of things, it was looking like Luna and company were going to win the battle of the bands. It helped that the musical Loud sibling was using Axeimum the Awesomeslayer to rock out.

Near the back of the main auditorium of the community center, Chandler, a local boy, was watching the battle of the bands. A rather popular student at Royal Woods Elementary School, Chandler was also a rather conceited boy as well. Granted, he didn't get exactly what he wanted all the time, but at least he's able to worm his way out of any and every unfavorable situation that he finds himself in.

…That was until about thirty seconds into the song being performed by Luna and her band, that is. As he was standing in an open doorway, Chandler yelped a bit out of surprise when someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Turning around to see who it was, Chandler saw that it was Francisco, a local thirteen-year-old and sportsman who, in recent events, had been shamed in sports, although one was a team thing that most of the team, not counting Francisco himself, was in on. Chandler could tell full well that Francisco did not look happy.

"About damn time I found you, you little turd," Francisco hissed quietly at Chandler.

"What do you want?" the conceited boy asked, a mild hint of fear in his tone.

"I know it was you," Francisco said as he pointed an accusing finger at Chandler, "I know it was you who was behind it all."

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Chandler replied, his worry slowly but steadily growing.

"Don't you lie to me," Francisco said as he raised a fist, "You conceited little s-"

Before Francisco could even finish, a quick blow to the back of his head knocked him out, causing him to fall over. Behind Francisco was a tall man; fair-skinned, the man had raven black hair that came up out of the back of his head, aside from bangs that framed his face. He wore a dark-colored long-sleeved shirt under a green sleeveless vest that had multiple small pouches on each side of the chest, a pair of pants of the same color as the long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of men's sandals. To Chandler's mild confusion, the man also wore a headband that had a thin metal plate over it; etched into the center of this plate was a stylized symbol of a leaf.

As he picked up the knocked-out Francisco and slung him over his shoulder, the man said to Chandler, "Are you alright, young man?"

"Well I am now, since you stopped that kid who was about to beat me up for no good reason," Chandler replied. With a mildly confused and concerned look on his face, Chandler continued, "Umm, he's going to live, right?"

"I merely knocked him out," the man replied to Chandler, "I'll lay him on a bench somewhere and let him wake up on his own. Granted, he may wake up with a slight pain in the back of his head, but that's what he gets for trying to beat up kids who are smaller than him."

"You came in out of nowhere and knocked that kid out," Chandler remarked, "Are you a witch?"

With an indifferent shrug, the man said, "If ninjas count as witches, then sure, why not?"

"What are you even doing here, sir?" Chandler asked.

"My son is in this city with his granduncle," the man explained, "I'm just checking in to make sure that my son is okay."

"Oh, alright then," Chandler replied. He then waved the man good-bye, hoping that he wouldn't run into Francisco alone again anytime soon.

* * *

The following day over at the Loud family's residence, Luna was helping Harold and Haru pack things into a car. "Here's Axeimum the Awesomeslayer, Harold-sensei," Luna said as she picked up and handed a guitar case over to her pink-haired music tutor.

"I told you that you'd do well last night, my young student," Harold remarked, "Where's the first-place award that your band won, by the way? I was hoping to take a picture of you with it so I can show my wife when I get home."

"It's over at Sam's place," Luna replied, "But my sister Lori took a picture of me and the band with the trophy last night on her smartphone. I bet that can get her to email the picture to you if you want."

"Sounds legit," Harold replied as he shot his student a thumbs-up, which Luna returned with an amused smile.

"Hey Uncle Harold," Haru said as he tossed a backpack into the backseat of the car before closing the door, "I'm all packed."

"Well then, I guess that means we can get going," Harold said. Turning to face Luna, the pink-haired man offered her a fist bump as he said, "You have come a very long way since I first started tutoring you in the ways of the dank powers of awesome and rock. You are already far more accomplished than what most people will ever get to be, but you still have quite a way to go. Do not forget to keep up with your training, my young student."

With something of a smirk, Luna accepted the offered fist bump while saying, "Well I would like to learn how to do that cloud-talking thing that you did. That was one of the most dope things that I have ever seen."

"Ah, there we go," Harold said in a pleased tone, "Having a goal is always helpful in training." Harold and Haru got into the car and drove off, with Luna waving them good-bye as the two of them disappeared into the horizon. As Luna watched the two of them drive off, Lincoln came walking up to her.

"Congratulations on winning the battle of the bands last night, Luna," Lincoln said, "I bet that you've never been happier."

"Well," Luna replied as she turned to face her little brother, "There is _one_ thing that made me happier than me and my band winning the battle of the bands last night."

"Really?" the sole Loud boy replied with a confused look on his face, "Well if it's not music-related, then I have no clue what-" Lincoln was cut off midsentence when Luna knelt down and drew him into a gentle hug.

"The one thing that made me happier than winning the battle of the bands last night," Luna said, "Is you still sticking around here with us." Understanding what his older sister was feeling, Lincoln smiled and gently returned the hug. The two of them stayed like that for a few more seconds before Luna led her little brother back into their family's house.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Author's notes:

And…there, Luna's time in the spotlight has finished. From what I've been able to gather, Luna is arguably the most popular Loud sister overall (I'm not sure if that is actually true, but it's what I've been able to observe). Granted, Luna is not my personal favorite out of the ten Loud sisters, but I won't begrudge people who like Luna best out of the ten Loud sisters. Oh, before I forget, this is the end of the bizarre/surreal storylines; the remainder of the story from here on out will, by comparison, be normal. Anywho, the next arc in this story is going to be something of a double-feature, as well as one that I am actually kind of looking forward to.

Next time: Toad-Tiara tag team


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter twenty-two: Toad-Tiara tag team part one- A tale of snow and cinders

It was morning in the Michigan city of Royal Woods. Over at the house owned by the Loud family, the six-year-old twins, Lola and Lana, both woke up at approximately the same time. Lola stretched upon sitting up in bed, letting out a yawn that, admittedly, sounded kind of cute. As for Lana, the yawn she let out turned into a belch about halfway through. Hearing Lana belch got Lola's attention.

Looking over to her twin's bed, Lola said as she took off her sleep mask, "Eww, Lana! Do you always belch first thing in the morning?"

"Only when I had a good dream the previous night," Lana remarked as she got out of bed and walked over to a table where a glass tank sat. Inside of the tank sat Hops, Lana's beloved pet frog. Lana knelt down to grab something that was stored under the table. Pulling it out, Lana got up and help what she had grabbed, a small plastic closed tub. Opening the tub, Lana showed that there were a few bugs inside.

"I still can't believe you keep that in our room," Lola said, a mild hint of complaint in her tone.

"Well hey, Hops has to eat something," Lana retorted as she carefully took a few of the bugs in the tub and tossed them into the tank, letting Hops go after them at his leisure. Sealing the small tub closed again, Lana returned it to where she got it from. "So, sis," Lana said to her twin in a casual conversational tone, "You excited for the festival that's happening today?"

"It does sound like it's going to be good," Lola replied as she got out of bed, "Didn't Lori say that the festival is going to have something to do with Vikings or something?"

"It's a cultural festival celebrating the Nordic countries," Lana said, "I'm hoping that there will be a place at the festival where I can get one of those drinking horns. Granted, I probably won't get one as large and ornate as the one that Lori's friend Allison has, but at least I wanna find one of a fair size." What Lana said was true; the festival that was occurring later that day was being held to celebrate the Norse countries and those who draw their heritage from those countries. Allison Ace, Lori's friend who Lana mentioned, draws half of her heritage from Sweden, which is one of the Nordic countries.

"I wanted to know what kind of dresses that are worn, so I asked Lincoln to find some pictures for me," Lola said, "Some of them actually look really pretty, so I hope I find a dress like those at the festival."

"It looks like we both have our eyes on something," Lana remarked. Holding up a hand, Lana said, "Here's hoping we both find what we're looking for." Recognizing what her older twin sister was doing by raising her hand, Lola smirked somewhat before raising her own hand to high-five Lana.

* * *

Later that morning, all of the Loud siblings were at the festival, which was set up in a very lightly wooded area somewhere in Royal Woods. Lori, the oldest of the Loud siblings, divided the eleven siblings into as many groups of four as she could manage. Lori herself, along with Luna, would be going around with Lisa and Lily, figuring that two of the oldest could look after the two youngest. The reason why their group had Luna and not Leni was because Luna had more experience with looking after Lily.

As for Leni, she, along with Luan, Lynn and Lucy, were another one of the sibling groups. This left the last group as the only group of three; Lincoln and the twins. Putting Lincoln with the twins was yet another idea on Lori's part, because she knew full well that, out of her and all of her siblings, Lincoln was the most effective at diffusing conflicts between Lola and Lana. That, along with how protective of Lincoln the twins have been as of late due to everything Lincoln's been through, led Lori to believe that Lola and Lana would listen to Lincoln without question.

"It's a bit nippy out here, isn't it?" Lola commented as she, Lana and Lincoln walked through the festival grounds, passing by booth after booth.

"Well it is getting close to Winter," Lincoln pointed out, "Why else did you think mom had all of us dress up a bit warmly before we left to come here?"

"Speaking of, why do you think mom and dad let us come here without them?" Lana asked, "I mean, given all of the stuff that's been set up, you'd figure that they would worry about at least one of us getting into some degree of trouble."

"Mom and dad both have work, remember?" Lincoln replied.

Looking mildly embarrassed, Lana said, "Oh."

"Well hey, look on the bright side," Lincoln remarked, "All of us have all day to spend here. Not to mention a fair bit of money to get things that catches our eyes."

"Ooh, ooh, I wanna try and find a dress like the ones in the pictures you showed me," Lola said.

"I wanna try and find one of those horns that Vikings drink out of," Lana said.

"Oh, so it's a drinking horn you're after," a familiar voice said from behind Lincoln and the twins, making them turn to see who it was. Thus, they saw Allison Ace, their sister Lori's friend, walk up to them. Aside from the fact that Allison was actually wearing her leather coat rather than tie it around her waist, the female Ace teen was dressed pretty much the same as she usually tends to outfit herself. She even had that thin, rectangular leather case over her back.

"Oh, hey Allison," Lincoln greeted, "I take it you know where we can find a place here that sells those drinking horns?"

Pointing in the direction in front of them, Allison said, "If'n you head that way and take the first left ya find, you'll find a booth selling those horns. In fact, I was on my way over there myself, as I'm in the market to get another drinking horn. Why don't ya let me tag along?"

"Well alright," Lincoln replied, "I certainly have no objections."

…

Lincoln, the twins and Allison eventually made their way over to the booth that was selling the drinking horns. It was also selling a few other interesting things, and the booth next to it on its right was selling dresses like the ones that Lola was hoping to find, so everything was working out for the group.

"Ah, that's a good choice, little one," Allison remarked as she watched Lana pick one of the largest drinking horns at the booth, "That'll hold enough drink to satisfy a warrior's thirst."

Checking the price tag on the horn that Lana had picked, Lincoln said in a mildly surprised tone, "Wow. It's nowhere near as pricy as I was expecting."

After Lincoln bought the drinking horn for Lana, the Louds and Allison went over to the booth that was selling Nordic clothing. Lola found a dress that she decided she wanted, and after that was paid for, the group decided to make their way over to the concession area of the festival grounds for lunch. Along the way, they ran into someone who they recognized.

"Oh, hey Carol," Lincoln greeted as he waved at Carol Pingrey, a girl who attends Royal Woods High, same as Lincoln's three oldest sisters and Allison.

"Oh, yer the girl who overheard those boorish trolls talking about how they beat up Lori's little brother here," Allison said, "Thanks to you, they were eventually brought to justice. Granted, it was a little excessive that those men in the prison decided to send Lance straight to Loki's daughter, but that's beyond our control."

"Yeah, that was a bit much," Carol agreed. Facing Lincoln, Carol said, "Hey Lincoln, you've pretty much been gone for the past two months or so. How have you been doing? I'm really sorry about everything that you've been put through."

"I've been doing well, thanks," Lincoln replied, "My sisters have been helping me through a lot of the recovery process"

"Good," Carol said in a clearly relieved tone, "That's…good to hear. I still can't believe that you've been through as much as you have been."

"You know, I'm surprised that you and Lori were actually able to quit being mean to each other, Carol," Lola commented as she and Lana looked up at the homecoming queen of RWHS.

"I myself was surprised to hear about that, little one," Allison said, "But then again, after the two of them finally reached an understanding, it was only natural that Lori and Carol became friends. Likewise, it was natural for some of the other girls on the team to lighten up on Carol."

"I know," Lola remarked.

"It's good that all of us can now see eye to eye," Allison replied, "But enough of that. We're here at the festival, so why don't we enjoy ourselves? Besides, we've got to grab some lunch over at the concession area!"

"Have fun, you guys," Carol said, "I'm going to look around a bit more." After the homecoming queen took her leave, Lincoln, the twins and Allison proceeded to finish making their way over to the concession area to get something to eat.

* * *

The Loud siblings all had a good time at the festival. The twins especially, seeing as how they both got the respective items that they were both looking for. Up in the twins' bedroom as everyone was getting ready for bed, Lana said, "Hey sis, what's on the agenda for tomorrow?"

"I've got some pageant practice to do," Lola replied in a somewhat matter-of-factly tone. Gently bouncing her hair with her right hand, Lola continued, "It would never do for someone of my level to fall behind, you know."

"Ehh, I was thinking about playing in the mud," Lana said, "If and when you're done with your pageant thing, you wanna join me?"

"No," Lola answered instantly in an unamused monotone.

Shrugging indifferently, Lana replied, "Ehh, I figured that it wouldn't have hurt to ask." After the twins got into their respective sleep outfit, they climbed into their respective beds, wished each other a good night, then promptly went to sleep. The pageant princess and the tomboy both had dreams that they respectively found enjoyable.

…

Lola was on stage at yet another one of her pageants. As always, Lola performed flawlessly, and was certain that she would be winning. However, in this particular pageant, there was an element that left the pageant princess Loud sibling unsure of things, especially considering what, or rather who, that element was.

Her twin sister Lana was in the pageant. What's more is that Lana was dressed how she was always dressed.

Lola had nothing to fear from any of the other girls in the pageant, as she had defeated them all countless times before, Lindsey Sweetwater especially. But this was the first time that Lola was competing against Lana, her own sister. Sure, Lana had won a pageant before, but that was one where Lana was taking Lola's place because Lola was injured; this time, it would be twin against twin, to see who was the top princess.

It was going to be Lola, of course.

"And we're now ready to announce the result of the pageant!" the head judge announced as he stood up from the table where he and his co-judges sat. Looking over his clipboard, the judge let out a shocked gasp and said, "Well this is unprecedented! We have a tie for first place! And between Lola and Lana Loud, no less!"

Hearing this shocked Lola; she actually _tied_ for first place at a pageant? With her own twin sister? The girl who swims in mud, eats dog food, and wrestles alligators?! Is this some kind of sick joke or something?!

In order to break the tie, Lola and Lana each had to do a small performance. Lola was confident that her performance would be considered pageant princess material; after all, she had performed a ribbon dance, and what would be considered more princess-like than a ribbon dance? As for Lana, she performed some music…by making armpit farts…while her pet frog Hops provided backup by croaking a lot. Lola smiled. Victory was hers now.

And so, the judges voted amongst themselves to see whether Lola or Lana was better. "We finally have a winner!" the head judged announced, "Congratulations, L-"

Suddenly, Lola's eyes popped wide awake; the pageant where she was competing against Lana had actually been a dream she was having. The reason why Lola woke up so suddenly was because there was a ruckus coming from outside of the twins' bedroom. Looking over to Lana's bed, Lola saw that she was awake as well.

Seeing that her younger twin sister was looking at her, Lana said, "Hey Lola, you got any idea what the heck is going on out there?"

"I have no clue," Lola said in a mildly grumpy tone as she got out of bed. Marching over to the bedroom door with determination, Lola said as she reached for the doorknob, "But when I find out who thought it would be a good idea to disturb my beauty sleep, I'm going to-"

Lola stopped short when, upon opening the door, she looked and saw what was going on in the hallway; apparently, Lynn, Luan, Lisa and Lori were all fighting with each other, with all of them shouting something about being the first to use the bathroom. Lynn was wrestling with Luan and despite the size (height) disadvantage, the sporty Loud sibling was clearly winning. As for Lisa and Lori, the brainy Loud sibling was clamped over Lori's face, making the oldest Loud sibling run around in something of a panic.

"…" Lola could only stare in bafflement as she watched the display before her. Curious about what her twin was looking at, Lana got out of bed and walked over.

"Hey Lola," Lana said as she came up, "What are you-" Lana stopped short upon seeing the wrestling that was going on in the hallway. Without missing a beat, Lana ran to where Lynn and Luan were wrestling, jumped up and yelled, "Dogpile!" as she joined the fray.

"…If this were any other person's household on a day where there's usually school but school's been canceled, I would be surprised," Lola remarked to herself as, while gently shaking her head, she closed the door, went back over to her bed, climbed back in, and decided to try and get the last remaining bits of beauty sleep that she needed.

* * *

Sasha St. Clare was many things; attractive, financially secure, and the head cheerleader of Royal Wood High School's cheerleading team. A slim and fair-skinned girl, Sasha had long, flowing yellow-blonde hair and a flawless face that further played into her status as an attractive High School girl. In fact, Sasha is one of the very few girls of Royal Woods High to have dated the late Lance Harrison and was lucky enough to not suffer any negative impact to her social standing after the relationship had ended. Indeed, Sasha St. Clare had everything that a pretty, popular High School girl could want.

…Well, Sasha didn't have _everything_. Sasha was not considered the most popular girl at Royal Woods High; Lori Loud was considered the most popular girl at Royal Woods High. Hell, that Allison Ace girl, who is quoted by some RWHS students to 'fight and rage like a Viking' is considered more popular that Sasha. Additionally, Sasha wasn't considered the prettiest girl at Royal Woods High either, as that honor went to Carol Pingrey, another RWHS girl who was among the most well-known and popular of the students at school. But then again, given Carol's popularity, it wasn't all that surprising.

Even so, Sasha St. Clare was still pretty, and still popular. And if there was one thing that Sasha had over any other girl at RWHS, it was that she knew how to advance and secure her social standing. The first thing that Sasha would do was to seek out the most popular guy at school and secure his affections so that he'd want to date her; dating the most popular guy was bound to put Sasha in a brighter spotlight at RWHS. The most popular guy at RWHS right now was Aggro Ace, the twin brother of the aforementioned Allison. Sasha knew that, to win Aggro's affections, she'd have to compete with at least six other girls, so that would be a challenge.

Not that Sasha didn't believe she couldn't rise to meet that challenge.

The next thing that Sasha would do was secure the friendship (i.e. allegiance) of noteworthy members of the RWHS student body; this included both Lori and Carol. Allison as well, as that would help with Sasha's pursuit of Aggro. Sasha knew that there were tricks to the trade of forming friendships (alliances) with people, and that each individual person would require an approach that was different from the rest.

Luckily for her, Sasha also knew enough about all of the noteworthy members of the RWHS student body to have a good idea on how to talk to them, to butter them up and get on their good sides. For Allison, Sasha knew that appealing to the Ace girl's warrior pride would be a very good start. For Lori, Sasha heard rumors that the Louds have gone through a number of rough times as of late; being sympathetic, and figuring that she'd let Lori cry on her shoulder if need be, would be how Sasha would win over the oldest Loud sibling's confidence.

As for Carol, well…it's a good thing for Sasha that Carol would be easier to work with than some of the other girls at school. Sasha was counting on that fact to let her try to strike up a rapport with Carol. Despite all appearances, Carol had some issues with insecurity, and would most likely express surprise at the notion that she'd be invited to the event that Sasha was intending to invite her to.

"You want me to come to your cousin's sweet sixteen?" Carol said in a mildly confused tone when Sasha stopped her in one of the hallways of RWHS during lunch one school day.

The head cheerleader nodded once in the affirmative before saying, "It's going to be held at my family's summer home in the woods."

"It's getting close to Winter, though," Carol pointed out.

"Think about it, though," Sasha began to explain, "A large, wood cabin estate in the woods right when the weather is starting to get cold. The only way such a getaway would have more of a romantic air was if it was currently snowing."

After thinking about what Sasha said for a few seconds, Carol replied with a look of consideration on her face, "Well, that does sound kind of cozy, now that you mention it…"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Sasha replied, "In fact, I even managed to get one of the bands who played at the recent battle of the bands to agree to perform at my cousin's party."

With a look of piqued interest on her face, Carol said, "Oh, is it the one that has Lori's sister Luna as a member?"

Sasha had to be careful to hold her tongue here; although the head cheerleader had a lot of stock invested in trying to secure Lori Loud's confidence, the head cheerleader couldn't care less about either of Lori's sisters, Luna and Leni, who attended Royal Woods High. Sasha heard that one of those two sisters of Lori's was in a romantic relationship with another girl, and that the other sister had some sort of mental problem that required her to be put in at least one special class (for the life of her, Sasha couldn't remember which one of those sisters was in which case, but then again, she couldn't care less).

But Carol had been reported to consider both of those girls as friends, and no doubt Lori would be upset with Sasha if the head cheerleader was mean to her sisters. Giving a mildly confused shrug, Sasha replied, "I'm sorry, but I'm honestly not sure. I'm not all that familiar with either of Lori's sisters here at school."

"Did you get the band that got first place at the battle of the bands?" Carol asked.

"Of course, I did," Sasha replied in a confident tone as she gave a nod in the affirmative; if she was going to go through the trouble of getting a band that performed at a battle of the bands to perform at her cousin's sweet sixteen, then Sasha was going to get the band that won the event. Nothing but the best for the St. Clare family, after all.

"Yeah, that's Luna's band," Carol said with a confirming nod, "Luna is the girl with the brown hair in a pixie cut. She also wears paper clips as earrings."

" _Great_ ," Sasha thought in an annoyed, almost hateful tone, " _I unknowingly hired a dyke_. _Or is it the retard that I got_? _I can_ ' _t tell for the life of me which one of those two is which_." Using a friendly tone while wearing a friendly expression, Sasha said, "Well I guess Lori's sister is pretty good at playing music if her band got first place."

"Totally," Carol replied, nodding in agreement.

"So, you think you can make it?" Sasha asked.

"Well I have nothing going on at the time," Carol said.

"Great!" Sasha replied, happy that someone's she been meaning to get on the good side of is available to come to her cousin's sweet sixteen.

"But before I decide for real, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about," Carol continued, her tone sounding mildly concerned.

"Oh, what's up?" Sasha asked, believing that nothing was amiss.

"I've been hearing that you've been giving some friends of mine some trouble," Carol explained in the same concerned tone, "I'm not really all that fond of the idea of any of my friends being messed with." Giving the head cheerleader a look that was a mix of concerned and unsure, Carol asked, "Is that true, Sasha?"

"I'm not all that familiar with all of the people that you hang out with, to be honest," Sasha replied half-honestly, "So I can't give you a sure answer. But if it helps, you can tell me who you are friends with here at school, so I know who to leave alone."

Carol wished that Sasha wouldn't mess with anyone at school, or anyone at all for that matter, but the homecoming queen supposed that she had to take what she could get. Carol gave Sasha a brief rundown everyone she was friends with, which Sasha was quick to jot down on a small spiral bound notepad she took out of her backpack. After Sasha was done, Carol told her that she would be needing directions to the sweet sixteen party, as she would be happy to come. And Carol being happy to come made Sasha happy.

The alliance that the head cheerleader was hoping for was starting to build.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Author's notes:

...I'll give you two guesses as to who the antagonist of this arc is, but you'll probably only need one. Anyway, the next chapter will see the conflict that the twins have to deal with begin.


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter twenty-three: Toad-Tiara tag team part two- A tango with Frogs

Lola and Lana were in the living room of their family's house in Royal Woods, Michigan, on a pleasant enough morning. As students at Royal Woods Elementary were given the rest of the week off due to some extensive construction that was required to fix part of the school, Lola and Lana were taking full advantage of that time off by doing what most six-year-old children are normally expected to do; watch cartoons.

…Of course, Lola had to find a proper cartoon for her and her older twin sister to watch first, as she had control of the remote. Seeing as how the channel that the twins normally go to in order to watch their animated shows was currently airing a marathon of the Princess Pony show, the girls were looking for some other animated show to watch, as they do not watch Princess Pony. And shame on anyone who likes that stuff, as far as Lola was concerned.

After the pageant princess Loud sibling found a suitable cartoon for her and Lana to watch, Lola and her twin turned their heads when they heard the front door open and heard someone walk in. Seeing their older brother Lincoln walk in, the twins got up off of the sofa so they could dash over to greet their brother. Considering the fact that the twins are both six, one would normally not think much of two little girls being excited over seeing their older brother coming back home from somewhere.

…But then again, if one knew how many times said older brother had been thrown through the wringer as of late, seeing that brother's younger sisters come up to greet him after he came back is much more understandable. As both Lola and Lana threw their arms around Lincoln to hug him, the Loud family matriarch, Rita, carrying her baby daughter Lily, came walking into the house. Seeing the twins hug their older brother, Rita could not help but gush at the sight.

"Well isn't this just one of the sweetest things that I've ever seen," Rita remarked, "You two being as kind to your brother as you have as of late. And I was told of how you two have taken to acting as his sort-of secret service." With a giggle, Rita continued, "That just sounds adorable."

"Lola and I weren't acting, mom," Lana remarked as she broke away from the hug and looked up to face her mother, "We were being serious. We stopped at least two people who we suspected of being civilians from getting too close to Lincoln before we verified their identity. Of course, we ended up stopping Lynn and Luan, but…"

"We were afraid that Lincoln was going to get hurt," Lola said as she looked up to Rita, "And he's been hurt enough already." As a few small tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes, Lola continued, "I don't want him getting hurt anymore."

"Wincon," Lily babbled as she waved a hand at her older brother.

Smiling softly, Lincoln remarked, "Thanks, girls. I really appreciate how you two were trying to look out for me as much as you have been. It's really sweet of you two." Holding up a plastic shopping bag, Lincoln continued, "And speaking of sweet, I went and got a little something."

"Candy?!" both twins exclaimed excitedly and in unison; seeing a shopping bag and hearing their older brother mention 'speaking of sweet', their six-year-old minds would naturally come to such a conclusion.

"Not exactly, but I'm sure you'll like it anyway," Lincoln replied as he sat the bag down, reached into it, and pulled out two boxes of the brownie snack cakes that have been so popular at the Loud residence as of late. "I did say that I'd make sure you two would get some next time," the sole Loud boy remarked as he saw the increasingly excited looks on Lola and Lana's respective faces, "And, well…it's next time."

"I'm guessing you got two boxes to make sure that everyone gets a brownie?" Lola asked.

Gently shaking his head in the negative, Lincoln smiled in an amused manner as he handed one box each to Lola and Lana. "Nope," Lincoln said, "You each get a box to yourselves."

…

Mr. Grouse was watching the news in his living room in his house. Right when the news went to commercial break, the older gentleman leaned back in his seat on the sofa and gave a content-sounding sigh. " _This is the life_ ," Mr. Grouse thought, " _A good_ , _quiet morning to myself_ , _no nosy door_ - _to_ - _door salesmen trying to peddle some sort of whatever onto me_ , _and no_ -"

Mr. Grouse was interrupted mid-thought and jumped in his seat in surprise when two high-pitched squeals, sounding like both came from little girls who thought Christmas came early for them, came from next door. And knowing how many girls lived next door to him, Mr. Grouse merely sighed to himself. "… _I guess that was too soon_ ," the older gentleman thought dryly.

* * *

"Ay, afraid so," Allison Ace said in a mildly apologetic tone to Sasha St. Clare one day at Royal Woods High School, "My family and I have to get ready for a trip we have to make to a city in the next state over. My grandaunt lives in that city, and we have to help her with a number of things, mostly relating to the fact that my granduncle was very recently called up to Valhalla by the Allfather."

"Really?" Sasha said, a hint on honest disappointment evident in her tone. The pretty and popular girl of RWHS, in a bid to advance and secure her social standing, was hoping to invite as many noteworthy members of the school's student body as possible to the sweet sixteen party that was being thrown for her (Sasha's) cousin. Those considered 'noteworthy' by St. Clare included Allison, Allison's twin brother Aggro (who Sasha was planning to secure the affections of as part of her bid to advance/secure her social standing), Lori Loud and Carol Pingrey.

With the excuse Allison gave, Sasha knew that she wouldn't be getting the Ace girl to come to the party; likewise, Aggro was out of the picture as well, as he would be helping with the obligations his family had to his and Allison's grandaunt. At least Sasha had already succeeded at getting Carol to come, and she still had a shot at getting Lori to come as well.

Sasha may talk to Luna, one of Lori's two younger sisters who also attends RWHS, and let her know that an invite is waiting for Lori. The reason why Sasha was considering using Luna like this is because Sasha got Luna's band, who recently won a battle of the bands, to perform at the sweet sixteen party for her cousin.

That was probably one of the very few reasons why Sasha would ever be willing to associate with one of Lori's two sisters who attends RWHS, as well as why Sasha would put on a nice, friendly façade while associating with either of those two sisters of Lori's; from what Sasha heard about Luna and Leni, one was dating a girl and the other had to be put in at least one special class (although Sasha didn't know or care which was which). As far as Sasha was concerned, this made those sisters of Lori's undesirables, and after the sweet sixteen, the head cheerleader wouldn't mind it in the least if they never showed up to anywhere ever again (she still needed Luna to come and perform at the party).

"Well, best of luck to you and your family helping your relative in the next state over," Sasha remarked to Allison, hoping that showing some support would earn her some of Allison's confidence. It must have worked to some degree, because Allison smiled back.

"Thanks for the concern," Allison replied before turning around and leaving. After Allison was out of eyesight, Sasha turned around and proceeded to locate Lori. The head cheerleader was still hoping to get the oldest Loud sibling to come to the party. If she couldn't get everyone she wanted, Sasha figured that she'd go for as many people on her list as possible. Best to get what you can get, after all.

* * *

Over at the Loud family's residence, Lynn Sr. and Lana were looking under the hood of Vanzilla, trying to figure out what problem the old van had _this_ time. "I just don't get what the problem could be this time," remarked Lynn Sr. as he scratched the side of his head in confusion, "Vanzilla has never-"

"Done," Lana said, interrupting her father in the process, as she made a quick change to something in Vanzilla with her wrench. Turning and looking up to face her father, Lana said, "Give trying to start Vanzilla another shot, dad."

"Umm, okay," Lynn Sr. remarked as he got into the driver's seat of the ancient vehicle and stuck the keys into the ignition. With a single turn, the loud family patriarch heard Vanzilla roar to life, as if it never had a problem starting up at all. His eyes widened with amazement, Lynn Sr. got out of Vanzilla and looked to his tomboyish six-year-old daughter. "You have a very good future ahead of you if you can work miracles on peoples' vehicles like that, young lady," Lynn Sr. said to Lana, his tone carrying a quietly surprised praise.

"Thanks, dad," Lana replied. As father and daughter talked, Lola came walking out of the family's residence, having heard their old van roar to life.

"It's finally working again?" Lola asked in a curious tone.

"Dad says I'm some sort of miracle worker when it comes to fixing peoples' vehicles," Lana remarked as she gently patted the head of her wrench in her left hand's palm.

"Well that doesn't surprise me," Lola began to reply, "You've always-" The pageant princess Loud sibling stopped midsentence when, looking down, she noticed something. "Dang it," Lola said, "My dress has a loose thread."

"Don't worry, I got it," Lana replied as she turned the wrench she was holding around in her hand. A switchblade came out of the handle of Lana's wrench, and the tomboyish Loud twin used that blade to cut off the loose thread on her sister's signature pageant dress. Seeing that his daughter had a sharp cutting implement, Lynn Sr.'s eyes widened a bit with concern.

"Lana," the Loud patriarch began in a mildly apprehensive tone, "Why is there a switchblade in the handle of your wrench?"

"Oh, that," Lana began to reply as she turned to face her father. Holding up her tool, Lana explained while folding the blade back into the wrench handle, "This is my knife-wrench. It's half-knife, half-wrench. I don't have a pocketknife, so I figured that this was the next best thing. You never know if I need to scrape something off of something else, or if I need to cut off a loose thread."

"Where did you get it from?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Pop-Pop gave it to me two Christmases ago," Lana explained. Looking up to Lynn Sr. with a confused look, Lana asked, "Why do you ask, dad?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lynn Sr. muttered to himself in a mildly frustrated tone, "I really need to have a talk with Rita's dad."

"What's up, daddy?" Lola asked, looking confused as she didn't clearly hear what her dad said.

"It's nothing, girls," Lynn Sr. replied in a mildly strained tone, "Just go ahead and play or whatever, and try to keep out of trouble, alright?" The twins agreed, and Lynn Sr. proceeded to walk into the family house, mumbling something about how he was going to have to call his father-in-law and ask him about a few things.

After the Loud patriarch disappeared into the house, the twins turned to regard each other. "What do you think daddy is so concerned about, Lana?" Lola asked.

With a confused, indifferent shrug, Lana replied, "I'm guessing he's just a bit embarrassed that he can't fix Vanzilla without someone's help is all. It's nothing to worry about."

* * *

"So, umm, yeah," Luna said in a somewhat embarrassed tone; the Loud siblings had all gathered in Lori and Leni's room for a sibling meeting after dinner that evening to discuss the upcoming sweet sixteen party that Luna and her band were hired to perform at, and how it would mess with schedules that work around that timeframe. Luna speaking up occurred near the beginning of the sibling meeting, although the gig her band had was not the reason why the musical Loud sibling was speaking up.

Regarding her younger brother, Luna continued in the same embarrassed tone, "About that time I threatened you when you suggested that I should pay Luan back for damages that some of my gear caused to her ventriloquist dummy, I'm totally sorry about that, bro. I'm also totally sorry that me apologizing for that is so belated."

"Well hey," Lincoln replied in a kind and understanding tone, "At least you're apologizing, Luna. As far as I'm concerned, that's good enough for me."

"What I would like to know is why Luna shook her fist at Lincoln in a threatening manner even though what he was suggesting was entirely reasonable," Lola remarked, "I mean, she never does stuff like that to any of us unless we're all at each other's necks for some reason, such as the time we were tearing the place apart looking for money, or the time we fought each other over who got to sit in the sweet spot."

"I was…" Luna began to explain as a slightly greater hint of embarrassment seeped into her tone, "…Experiencing lady troubles at the time, and it was putting me a bit on edge. But even so, that is no excuse for the crud that I pulled back then."

"Lady troubles?" Lana repeated in a confused tone. Looking up to her musically inclined older sister, Lana continued, "What do you mean by lady troubles, Luna?"

"You will literally find out when you're older, Lana," Lori remarked as she got the attention of everyone else in the room, "The point here is that Luna wanted to take some time before we actually started our sibling meeting to own up for something that she did in the past. I think that Luna wanting to own up is literally the right thing to do."

"Thanks," Luna remarked to the oldest Loud sibling.

"No problem," Lori replied, "But let's put that aside for now and get to what we're having this sibling meeting about."

"Oh yeah, dudes," Luna remarked as her mood lightened up considerably, "Sasha St. Clare hired my band and I to perform at her cousin's sweet sixteen."

"Isn't she that one rich girl on your school's cheerleading squad who you say is constantly trying to raise her position on the social hierarchy of your school?" Luan asked as she regarded her sister and roommate with a mildly confused look.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Luna replied.

"Why would she hire you and your band?" Luan continued.

With an indifferent shrug, Luna replied, "I'm guessing it's because we won the recent battle of the bands, and Sasha thinks it'd be killer to have a live music performance at her cousin's sweet sixteen party."

"Well she literally couldn't have picked a better band to perform than yours," Lori remarked to Luna, "You got this in the bag."

"Thanks, Lori," Luna replied. Lori looked like she was about to say something else, but she stopped short when Luna suddenly said, "Dude, wait! I just remembered something!"

"What is it?" Lori asked.

"Sasha wants to know if you wanna come to the party," Luna explained, "She told me that she tried to find you but couldn't, so she found me instead and asked me to pass the invite along."

"Huh, I literally never thought that Sasha St. Clare would want to invite me to anything," Lori remarked, a hint of honest surprise in her tone.

"So, what do you think?" Luna asked.

"If I have nothing else going on at the time, then I don't see why not," Lori replied, "It's been a while since I've been to a sweet sixteen."

"That, like, totally reminds me," Leni spoke up, "Lori, why didn't you, like, come to my sweet sixteen?"

"I had a date with Bobby that day," Lori explained, looking somewhat embarrassed as she was just reminded that she missed her sister's sixteenth birthday just because she wanted to spend time with her Boo-Boo Bear.

"So?" Lincoln remarked to his oldest sibling, "Clyde asked if I wanted to join him at the arcade that day, but I turned him down while explaining what was going on. Clyde not only understood my reasoning, but he even stopped by the party after picking up a gift for Leni."

"I bet that Bobby would have done the same if you explained things to him," Lucy said to Lori.

Sighing in a resigned tone, Lori replied, "I'm guessing that I literally dropped the ball on that one, didn't I?"

"Totally, dude," Luna agreed in a mildly stern tone as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Just try not to pull a similar stunt like that when my sweet sixteen rolls around, alright?" Gesturing to the rest of the Loud siblings aside from herself, Leni and Lori, Luna added, "Same goes for the rest of us here."

"I have an idea in mind for Linky's sweet sixteen that I bet he'll totes love," Leni remarked in a somewhat excited tone.

"Leni, boys typically do not have sweet sixteen parties," Lisa informed her ditzy older sister, "Granted it's not technically unheard of for boys to have a sweet sixteen party, but the affair is generally thrown mostly for girls."

"It is a nice thought, though," Lincoln remarked. Turning to regard Leni, Lincoln said, "Thanks for keeping my interests in mind like that, Leni."

"So anywho," Lori said, "Due to how Luna and her band performing at the party, along with how much prep time they'll need in the days beforehand to practice, we'll need to figure out how to rework our schedules to accommodate for it."

The other Loud siblings then proceeded to state what they had planned over the next few days, with Lori working with them to reschedule things if it was necessary; aside from certain academic things Lisa would be doing over at the local university, anything that any of the five youngest Loud girls had planned would not get in the way (the one pageant that Lola would have had in that timeframe had to be canceled due to some sort of mold-related problem at the usual pageant hall).

Lynn had a soccer game in that timeframe, but she could bum a ride from one of her friends on the soccer team; either Mitzie Cornwell or Ulfric Aesir could very well give the sporty Loud sibling the left to the game she needed. Luan had a birthday party to perform at, but it was a local affair that Luan could actually just walk to, pulling her party gear behind her in a wagon.

Lori was expecting to head to Sasha's cousin's sweet sixteen, and would end up giving Luna a lift as well, along with helping to bring over some of the equipment Luna and her band would be needing for their performance. As for Leni, she had nothing going on in that timeframe at all, so she could stay home that evening to keep an eye on the younger siblings.

For reasons that escaped her, the idea of Leni watching the younger siblings literally filled Lori with worry and dread.

* * *

The following day, Lincoln and Lynn were walking back from something over at Lynn's friend Mitzie's place; Lynn brought Lincoln along mostly because Mitzie's mother saw both of them when she and her family moved to Royal Woods and assumed that both of them were friends with Mitzie, so she suggested that Lynn bring Lincoln along. Although he technically wasn't a friend of Mitzie's, Lincoln was still on friendly enough terms with the blonde girl from England, and for her part, Mitzie didn't mind the sole Loud boy's presence at all.

"Mrs. Cornwell is a very friendly person, isn't she, Lynn?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah, she's a really cool person, just like Ulfric's parents," the sporty Loud sibling replied with a nod of agreement, "They're just like-" Lynn was cut off when a rather old pickup truck turned a nearby corner so quickly that the tailgate jarred open on its own; due to momentum, the contents of the pickup truck's bed, mostly furniture, slid out and flew at the two Loud siblings. Acting on instinct, Lynn quickly and skillfully jumped out of the way, landing on her feet well outside of the danger zone of getting hit by furniture. As for Lincoln…he wasn't as lucky.

As a plush leather armchair, two side tables and a coffee table fell on him in something of an avalanche, the sole Loud boy cried out in surprise and pain. Mostly surprise, and the plush leather armchair landed on top of him in a way that not only minimized how much he was hurt, but it also acted as something of a cushioning shield that protected him from the rest of the furniture that landed on top of him. Really, most of the pain that Lincoln suffered was due to hitting the ground due to the force of all of the furniture landing on top of him.

"Oh my God," Lynn exclaimed in a tone of worry upon seeing what happened, "Lincoln!"

* * *

Over at the Loud residence, the sisters were all sitting around. The mood throughout the house was somewhat somber because, once again, the sole boy among their number was hurt. Even though Lincoln ended up not needing to be treated at the hospital, the fact that he was once again thrown through the wringer still remained. While the four oldest sisters were going about various other things, Lynn and the five sisters that were younger than Lincoln were having a meeting in Lola and Lana's room.

"The girl who was driving that truck was clearly a student at the High School that Lori, Leni and Luna go to," Lynn said to her younger sisters, "Given she was wearing the school's cheerleading outfit and the fact that the bumper of the truck had a 'My child is a RWHS student' bumper sticker on it. Not only did she not apologize for getting Lincoln hurt, but she even snapped at us because one of the legs of the coffee table broke off." Scoffing in an annoyed tone, the sporty Loud sibling continued, "It's not like it was Lincoln's fault that she was driving more recklessly than Lori that one time when Bobby told her he got a new pair of swimming trunks."

"I managed to snag this from Luna and Luan's room," Lola said as she held up a copy of the RWHS yearbook. Handing the yearbook to Lynn, the pageant princess Loud sister said, "Think you can identify the wicked witch whose reckless driving resulted in Lincoln getting buried in an avalanche of furniture?"

"For once, you going into one of our rooms and taking something without asking is actually a good thing," Lynn remarked as she received the yearbook from Lola and began to flip through it in search of a photo of the girl responsible for hurting their brother.

"Although gathering the information that you got will serve us well in this situation," Lisa began as she turned to face Lola, "You still need to break yourself of the habit of going into others' rooms without their presence or consent and taking their things. In fact, I bet that Luna would be okay with letting you borrow her copy of the RWHS yearbook if you had sim-"

"Found her!" Lynn announced, cutting Lisa off in the process; Lynn's right index finger was pressed against the photo of a girl on one of the pages in the yearbook. The five youngest girls, except for Lana, gathered around their sporty older sister and looked at the picture of the girl that Lynn had identified as the one who had hurt Lincoln.

Looking at the side of the page where all of the names of students were located, Lucy quickly matched the photo of the girl with the appropriate name. "That's Sasha St. Clare," the gothic Loud sibling remarked, "So she's the one who Wait a minute!" With all of her siblings looking to her, Lucy continued, "She's the girl whose cousin is having that sweet sixteen party. The one that Lori's been invited to and Luna's performing at."

"Now I see why Luan was being so wary of her earlier," Lisa remarked, her eyes wincing in suspicion as she looked at the photo of the social ladder climber.

"We should tell Lori and Luna about this," Lola suggested right away, "They can really give that Sasha girl a stern talk-"

"No," Lana called out, getting the others to look over to where Lana was at. The tomboyish Loud sibling was sitting on her bed, her pet frog Hops sitting on her shoulder. "You and I shall be handling this affair ourselves, sis," Lana explained to her younger twin sister, "After all of the times our big bro stuck his neck out for us, it's about high time that we started paying him back, if you ask me."

Giving her twin a knowing look, Lola said, "Lana, if you have planned what I think you have planned, then I…might actually enjoy where this is heading."

With a smirk, Lana replied, "When have I ever steered you wrong, sis?" The other sisters in the room started nodding in agreement with the idea of letting the twins handle getting back at Sasha for what she did. As the girls all nodded, Hops let out a loud, notably intimidating ribbit for a frog, as he sat perched on his owner's shoulder.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Author's notes:

I saw that some people complained about that one scene in the episode where Lori moved into the family garage where Luna shook her fist at Lincoln in a threatening manner, so after mulling it over a bit, I came up with something of a fan theory to explain why Luna, who is normally one of the most chill of the Loud sisters, would pull a stunt like that. Aside from that, the next chapter will show why doing something bad to the older brother of two six-year-old girls is a very bad idea, especially when one of those two six year old girls is Lana…mudborn of house Loud, mother of frogs, breaker of chains.


	24. Chapter 24

Pre-chapter author's note: For various reasons that kind of pain me on an emotional level, I am uploading the reamining chapters of 'Ten reasons' today (6-28-2018); likewise, I will also be uploading the remaining 'Broken Mirror: New War' chapters when I am done working with 'Ten reasons'. After both of those stories are finished, an explanation for why I am doing this can be found on my profile. Now then, without further ado, here's the 24th chapter of 'Ten reasons'.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter twenty-four: Toad-Tiara tag team part three- You stand accused

"Sasha St. Clare did _what_?!" Carol Pingrey said at a local park one day to the Loud twins Lola and Lana; the homecoming queen encountered the younger sisters of Lori Loud as she took a shortcut through the park on her way home. The look of anger on Carol's face made it all too clear that the Loud twins had divulged to Carol a secret that the homecoming queen was not all that pleased to be hearing.

"Her reckless driving resulted in some furniture in the truck she was driving to spill out of the truck bed and fall onto me and Lana's big brother Lincoln," Lola explained, "Granted, it's really lucky everything landed on him in a way that minimized how hurt Lincoln was, and he doesn't need to be treated at the hospital, but that doesn't change the fact that Lincoln was still hurt."

"According to Lynn, not only did that Sasha girl not apologize for Lincoln getting hurt, but she even snapped at them because one of the legs of some piece of furniture broke off as a result of falling out of the truck bed," Lana added.

The homecoming queen of RWHS could not believe what she was hearing; as odd as it may be, Carol Pingrey, a seventeen-year-old girl, actually considered Lincoln Loud, an eleven-year-old boy, as a close friend of hers. Carol was on friendly terms with pretty much all of Lori's younger siblings, as well as Lori herself, after the two of them had cleared up some misunderstandings.

"Thanks for telling me, girls," Carol said to the twins. Pulling a smartphone out from her purse, Carol continued, "I'm going to send a mass text to everyone at Royal Woods High about the stunt that Sasha just pulled. Let's see how she likes it if-"

"Before you do that," Lola interrupted, making Carol stop midsentence and before she could even type one letter of her planned text, "Lana and I are going to need you to hear us out on something first." Confused but her interest piqued nonetheless, Carol returned her smartphone to her purse.

"…Okay, let's hear your plan," Carol replied.

"First off," Lana asked, "Do you know of any music that Sasha doesn't really like all that much?"

"Music that Sasha doesn't like all that much?" Carol replied in a confused tone. Looking upwards as she held a hand to her chin, Carol thought about the notion for a short moment before returning her attention to the six-year-old twins of the Loud family. "Well when I spoke to Sasha at school earlier," Carol said as she returned her attention to Lola and Lana, " _Before_ I found out she pulled a stunt like that, Sasha told me how her college age brother had been listening to the theme music of a fighting game character a lot recently. According to Sasha, it's the theme music of her brother's favorite character from that game."

"Fighting game character's theme music, huh?" Lana replied, "Which character and which game are we talking here?"

"I don't remember the game, but I think that the character's name is Akuma," Carol said. After wearing a look of consideration on her face for a few seconds, Carol continued in a confident tone, "Yes, Akuma was the fighting game character that Sasha mentioned."

"Good," Lana replied with a nod, "Now here's the next part." Standing on her tip-toes, Lana gestured for Carol to kneel down so she could whisper something into her ear. "How would you be interested in a little revenge on Sasha?" the tomboyish Loud sibling said quietly into the right ear of RWHS's homecoming queen.

"…Go on," was all that Carol said in response, her tone suggesting that Lana had piqued her interest with the idea.

* * *

After their meeting in the park with Carol, Lola and Lana proceeded to make their way home. Along the way, they ran into their older sister Lucy. "Oh, 'sup, sis?" Lana greeted with a casual wave, "What are you up to?"

"I just found some interesting people," the gothic Loud sibling explained, "Two kids, a boy and a girl, both of which are Lynn's age." Leaning somewhat closely to her younger sisters, Lucy continued in a whisper, "I believe that they may be able to help out with the little party plan that you two have."

"Can they be trusted?" Lola asked, suspicious of what her dark older sister may be planning.

"Rest assured that they are both like myself," Lucy replied, "In the sense that they communicate with spirits regularly. Only, they work with spirits more…directly…than I do."

"You found more goths like yourself?" Lana asked, an eyebrow arched in a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"Neither of them have embraced the darkness like I have," Lucy clarified, "But they do, in fact, communicate with spirits on the regular basis. In fact, each teen was accompanied by a spirit. When I made a note of that to them, both the boy and the girl expressed surprise that I was able to see their spirit allies, with the girl even saying something about some sort of phenomena."

"Did you at least get their names?" Lola asked, shrugging somewhat.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Lucy said, "The girl said that her name is Kira and the boy said that his name is Atticus."

"Did you tell them about…you know…" Lana asked, trailing off at the end in a knowing manner.

"Not yet," Lucy replied with a gentle head shake in the negative, "But I believe that Kira, Atticus and their respective spirit friends would be of great help in your endeavor to right the wrong that had been done. It also helps that neither of them are from this country, and are only here in the States visiting respective relatives of theirs that had moved here."

"…It would be hard to get ahold of them if they both left if things go south," Lola remarked.

"I doubt that either of them would be willing to help Lola and I with what we have planned," Lana said to Lucy, "And I also doubt that they're actually being followed around by spirits like you say." Putting her hands on her hips, Lana continued, "But if you think that they'd be willing to lend a hand, and that they can be trusted to keep all of this to themselves, then hey, we'll take what we can get."

Lucy only smiled in response.

* * *

That Friday evening over at Sasha's family's summer home in the woods, the guests were arriving one by one. The large wood cabin-style summer home, practically a mansion due to its size and splendor, looked all the cozier and inviting due to the oncoming Winter season, which highlighted the appeal of a party being held at such a location. Sasha and a fellow friend of hers on the RWHS cheerleading team, a girl who shared Sasha's views and opinions on things, were both there to receive the guests that came.

"Hey Carol, I wasn't aware that you were giving Luna and her band a lift," Sasha's friend said as both she and Sasha expressed surprise to see Carol helping Luna, Sam and their bandmates carry their gear up to the log cabin-style summer home.

"Something came up with my folks that required Lori to miss the party," Luna explained to the two cheerleaders, "She asked me to let Sasha know that she's sorry she had to bail."

"Well damn," Sasha replied, her tone showing a mild hint of regret that one of the guests she was hoping to have over was forced to miss due to a family emergency, "I'm sorry to hear that something big like that happened. I hope whatever it is taken care of within short order."

Even though she was being apologetic and sounding sincere, Sasha was actually merely acting; the head cheerleader actually could not stand the mere presence of Lori's two sisters who also attended RWHS, Luna being one of them. Sasha knew one was dating another girl and that the other was in at least one special class (Sasha still didn't know which sister was which case); as far as Sasha was concerned, this made Lori's two sisters at RWHS freaky losers. Sasha's friend from the cheerleading team that was with her at the time agreed wholeheartedly in this regard.

After Carol, Luna and Luna's band made their way past Sasha and Sasha's friend, two thirteen-year-olds came walking up, carrying additional music gear for Luna's band. The first young teen was a girl; this girl had fair skin, shoulder length somewhat wild-looking yellow-blonde hair, and blue eyes. She also wore a blue tank-top, baggy tan-colored cargo shorts, white sneakers with a red stripe, and white socks. The girl wore a yellow and electric blue watch of some kind on her left wrist.

The second teen was a boy; he had fair skin, black hair that almost reached the tips of his shoulder blades, and wore a light gray long-sleeved shirt (the wrists were loose-hanging, not clinging to the boy's wrists) under a red men's tank top, light gray baggy cargo shorts held up with a belt, white socks and white sneakers. The boy also wore red stud earrings, one in each ear lobe, and a pocket watch on a lanyard around his neck; the watch seemed to be of a similar make as the girl's watch, only the boy's watch (plus its lanyard) were red and black. Also, Sasha saw that both young teens looked like they had oriental heritage.

"Who are you two?" Sasha asked as she halted the two young teens, "Neither of you look like students over at Royal Woods High."

"We're roadies hired by Luna's group," the boy of the pair explained, "My friend here and I both need a little extra pocket money while we're here in the States. Forgive me if my English isn't all that up to par."

"Actually, your English sounds pretty good," Sasha's friend remarked, her eyes widening a bit out of surprise, "What country are you two visiting from?"

"We're both from Japan," the girl of the pair replied, "My friend here and I both live a little place known as Sakura New Town."

"Well I have to say, both of you have a really good grasp of the English language," Sasha said as she and her friend stepped aside to let the two thirteen-year-olds in. The two cheerleaders immediately turned their attention back to facing forward so they could greet the guests that were still arriving. As such, they thought that they saw some more band gear simply float on past them; but Sasha and her friend both dismissed it as not seeing whatever kids were carrying that gear. Besides, Sasha and her friend had something more important to do.

* * *

The sweet sixteen for Sasha's cousin was soon well underway. The guests were all having a hell of a time talking, socializing, enjoying party refreshments, and other such things. The band that Sasha had hired was certainly fulfilling their end of the bargain; once enough people had shown up, Luna led her crew in playing the first song that they had lined up, which was a rock version of 'happy birthday to you'. " _Even though I still don_ ' _t know if she_ ' _s Lori_ ' _s retarded sister or Lori_ ' _s dyke sister_ , _I have to admit that Luna made a good call with that first bit of music_ ," Sasha thought as a number of guests at the party, herself included, applauded the first song.

As the head cheerleader looked around the party, surveying it and seeing that everything was going smoothly, she was approached by a girl that, although not at Sasha's level of physical beauty, was still a lovely enough sight for sore eyes nonetheless. The girl had long reddish-orange hair that was straight and smooth, she wore a somewhat baggy lavender sweater, baggy jeans held up with a belt, and a pair of sneakers.

This girl was Sasha's cousin, the girl who this party was being thrown for. Although normally she wouldn't stand for any sibling or cousin of hers to dress in so unfashionable of a manner (her college-age brother was a lost cause as far as she was concerned), Sasha always made an exception for this cousin of hers, who she loved like a sister. Sasha would have given her cousin some leeway anyway, as the head cheerleader's eyes got a quick look at the slight but noticeable belly that her cousin had going on right now.

"How are you holding up, Marie?" Sasha said as she greeted her cousin. Gesturing to the party that was going on, the head cheerleader asked, "This all isn't too much for you, is it?"

With a 'Hmph' that sounded partly amused, Sasha's cousin Marie replied, "I'm not _that_ far along into my pregnancy yet, Sasha. I assure you that I can handle my own sweet sixteen."

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Sasha asked.

"Well I was considering naming my child Caitlin if it was a girl," Marie replied as a hint of mild annoyance crept into her tone, "But the stupid doctor spoiled that I was going to have a boy during my first ultrasound a short while ago." With another 'Hmph' although this one lacked any hint of amusement, Marie continued, "I was really hoping that it was going to be a surprise."

"But hey, look on the bright side," Sasha said in a reassuring tone, "Your son is going to have the best aunt in the world, ready to help mommy dearest with whatever is needed."

Marie could not help but smile at her cousin's words. "Yeah," Marie agreed, "That does sound pretty nice, now that you mention it."

"There's one more thing I have to ask," Sasha went on, her tone taking on a mildly unsure hint. Giving her younger cousin an unsure look, the head cheerleader asked, "Are you _sure_ that Lance Harrison is the father?"

"It was confirmed at the hospital when they checked everything," Marie replied to her cousin with a somber nod; the late Lance Harrison, who was a star member of the RWHS football team, had a reputation for being both very good-looking and very popular with the ladies. Sadly, the late football star was something of a sleaze who often took advantage of this, often to the logical extreme. Marie was Lance's last successful 'conquest' before his untimely death following his arrest. Thankfully, Marie was the only 'conquest' of Lance's that had any actual results. They did it mutually and with each other's consent, by the way.

"Well hey, silver lining," Sasha said as she gave Marie's left shoulder a gently pat, "This was the only good thing that Lance ever had a hand in. The whole of our family will be having your back on this one, making sure your son won't end up like the guy who sired him."

Smiling sympathetically, Marie replied, "Thanks, Sasha. This is really going to take a lot out-" The girl of honor was cut off when Luna's band finished the song it was playing, drawing cheers and some clapping from the other party guests.

"Thank you, everyone," one of the boys in Luna's band said into a microphone as Luna and Sam got up and left the stage to take a break from playing for a bit, "And to keep this party rolling, let's bust out the next song that we have lined up for you!" The party-goers cheered as Sasha and Marie turned back to face each other.

Sasha was about to say something, but she stopped short upon hearing and sub-sequentially recognizing the music that Luna's band had just started playing. Even with the different instruments involved, the head cheerleader, thanks to her college-age brother, was all too familiar with that particular bit of music.

Granted, she had not given Luna's band any specifics on what music would be appropriate, but to hear that particular song, especially here, Sasha could not help but suspect that something was going on. "…Akuma…" Sasha muttered to herself quietly as she turned her head to face the band.

"Did you say something, Sasha?" Marie asked, having not heard what her cousin had said.

"Oh, it's nothing," Sasha assured her beloved younger cousin, "I'm guessing that the band has a bit of a flare for video game music is all."

Nodding in agreement, Marie said, "Yeah, that sounds about accurate. …Umm, I'd hate to be a bother, but would you excuse me for a moment? I need to go use the bathroom."

"Don't let me stop you," Sasha replied, gesturing for Marie to go on ahead to the bathroom. After her cousin walked away and was out of the main area of the party, Sasha turned back around and was surprised to see Carol sitting in one of the plush leather armchairs in the room the party was being thrown in. Carol had a cup of punch sitting on the side table right next to the armchair she sat in.

"Oh, Carol!" Sasha said, "Relaxing a bit, I take it?"

"Oh yeah," the homecoming queen replied in a calm, casual tone, "I usually like to sit down and relax when listening to music that I enjoy."

"Well I did hire the band that won the battle of the bands," Sasha remarked, "So of course they would know how to play awesome music."

"Yeah, Luna's band sure know their way with instruments, don't they?" Carol replied. Right after Carol finished that sentence, Sasha heard the large double-doors that served as the front door of the large, wood cabin-style summer home close. Turning around, Sasha saw a fairly short teen person wearing a hooded jacket and a bandana over the lower half of their face. Sasha wasn't sure if it was that Kira girl or that Atticus boy (judging by the kid's height, it had to be one of those two Japanese thirteen-year-olds), nor was she sure why they would close the large double-doors and stand in front of it like that. "You know, Sasha," Carol began again, getting the head cheerleader to turn around and face her again, "I actually recognize the music that they're playing. It's the theme music for a character from a fighting-style video game."

Sasha looked mildly confused by what the homecoming queen had said; Carl actually recognized the song that was being played? Why would a pretty, popular girl like Carol know _anything_ about video games? Sasha watched as Carol picked up the cup of punch that she was drinking from off of the side table and took a sip. "Yeah, I recognize that music, alright," Carol continued as she held her cup of punch. Giving Sasha a knowing look, Carol added, "It's actually one of my favorite bits of music, did you know that?"

Right after Carol said that, a very short person wearing an outfit similar to the young teen who closed the large double-doors walked onto the small stage that had been set up for Luna's band, interrupting Luna's bandmates who were still playing in the process. "May I have your attention, please!" the short mystery person called out, getting a number of people to turn around and look. It was clear from the short person's voice that they were a young girl, probably six years of age, albeit one who wasn't into what people usually attribute to girls of that approximate age.

Over where she stood next to Luna, Sam whispered, "Yo Luna, isn't that your younger sister who likes to play in the mud?"

"Yeah, that's Lana alright, and that has me wondering," Luna whispered back, "What the heck are Lana and Lola doing here?"

"The other twin is here as well?" Sam asked.

"I'd be surprised if she wasn't," Luna replied in a hushed tone.

Back on the stage, as the other young teenager who was helping Luna's band, this one wearing the same outfit as the one by the large double-doors, helped set something up, the short mystery person, identified by Luna as Lana, said, "To help really celebrate the birthday girl's special day, we have prepared a little presentation about her, and how overall wonderful of a person she is." This drew some mummers of piqued interest from the crowd, many of which thought that the upcoming presentation was a sweet and heartfelt gesture.

"…I don't recall ever organizing a presentation like that…" Sasha muttered to herself, her eyes wincing in suspicion.

Once the last of the gear was set up, a projector began playing a video on one of those video canvas whatevers (I don't know what they're called). However, rather than start with something about the birthday girl Marie, it played a clip of Sasha and two of her friends from the RWHS cheerleading team (you can tell because all three girls were wearing their cheerleading uniforms) talking to each other in one of the classrooms at school.

"Eww, you're seriously going to hire Lori's retarded sister to perform at the big event this Friday?" one of the other girls, who had chin-length yellow blonde hair, said to Sasha, her tone clearly carrying vain, petty disgust.

"Wait a minute," the other girl with Sasha, who had shoulder-length brown hair, said in a confused tone, "I thought that Luna was Lori's dyke sister."

"What the fuck?" Luna swore under breath over where she stood with Sam, who likewise looked disgusted as they and everyone else watched the video.

In the video, Sasha shrugged and said in a casual tone, "I forgot which of Lori's sisters is which, to be honest. But then again, both of them are terrible." The three girls then laughed amongst themselves like the petty, conceited queen bees they were. This drew some confused mutterings from the crowd of guests.

The video, which was still playing, then cut to a scene in a bathroom. Sasha walked on scene and entered one of the stalls. No one could see Sasha while she was in the stall as the video was being filmed from outside of the stall, but soon after she went into the stall, you could not only hear the head cheerleader fart, but it was loud, went on for a few seconds, and while she was farting Sasha cried out, "Oh God, what did I eat?! This is frigg'en painful!" This drew quite a bit of laughter from everyone watching the video, although Sasha herself was quickly going about trying to get the video to stop.

The video then proceeded to show a number of lesser bits, including Sasha tripping Leni in the halls at school one time, Sasha taking another student's completed assignment and erasing the name so she could put her own, and Sasha plus her two friends from the previous clip pulling a prank that resulted in one other girl at school being coated in red paint in what was clearly a homage to an older movie. As more and more of those clips continued onward, the guests were a mix of angry, amused and confused as they watched everything.

Eventually, after the movie of Sasha's exploits had ended, everyone proceeded to turn around and head for the large double doors so they could leave; the young teen who was standing by the doors casually stepped to the side so as to allow everyone to take their leave. "Hey, wait!" Sasha called out as people began to file out, "Where are all of you going? We still have the party to get through here!"

A few guests turned around, with one of them, a member of the RWHS football team, saying, "I'm sorry, Sasha, but that…" Pointing to where the moving-playing gear was being taken down and packed up, the football player continued, "…That just killed my mood, you know?" The football player and the others who turned around to face Sasha turned back around and continued on their way. To Sasha's shock, even her cousin Marie, who had since returned from using the bathroom, was leaving.

"Marie," Sasha said upon seeing her cousin, "Where…Why are you leaving your own party?"

Turning back around, Marie gave her cousin a good, serious look. "…Was this really my party, Sasha?" the pregnant sixteen-year-old asked, "Was it really?" Without another word, Marie turned back around and walked out of the summer home. More and more of the guests proceeded to file out, and soon very few people remained in the summer home. By the time the bulk of those who were leaving had left, Sasha heard some clapping from behind her. Turning around, the head cheerleader came face-to-face with Carol, the one who was clapping.

"Now _that_ was some entertainment," Carol remarked, clearly looking amused.

Sasha could not believe it. Carol Pingrey, a girl who should be like Sasha herself, was actually _applauding_ Sasha's embarrassment? "Why…" Sasha began in a subdued tone of heartbreak, "…Why are you clapping? Do…do you know what's going to happen to my social life now?"

"Mmm…I can probably take a few guesses," Carol remarked in a casual tone. Standing up, Carol proceeded to leave the party, as it was practically dead by this point. As the homecoming queen tried to leave, Sasha quickly caught up to her.

"No, you can't go!" Sasha said, nearly begged, "I need your help! My social life if in ruins now, so you've got to help me get everything fixed!"

Giving the head cheerleader a dry, unamused look, Carol replied, "Why should I? I just saw video proof that you think that Lori's sisters are less than trash." Turning around so that her back was facing Sasha, Carol continued, "And besides, those aren't my only friends that you've hurt."

"Not…not your only friends…" Sasha said in a confused tone. Once she got the hang of what the homecoming queen was talking about, Sasha nearly exclaimed as she started to lose it, "What are you talking about?! I've been leaving all of your friends alone! I haven't done anything to any of the girls at school!"

"One, Luna and Leni count," Carol retorted in a bitter and angry tone, "Two, I'm not just friends with girls at our school. Three, I'm not just friends with students at our school."

"W…what?" Sasha replied, her tone an even mix of sadness and confusion.

"I've got friends at the middle and elementary schools as well," Carol replied, "In fact, one of my closest friends is a boy at Royal Woods Elementary. Fair-skinned, white hair, wears orange all the time." Giving the head cheerleader a knowing look, the homecoming queen continued, "You might know who I'm talking about."

It was then that everything began to dawn on Sasha, the weight of the realization making her fall to her knees. That boy, the one who Sasha had blamed for breaking that coffee table even though it broke due to it and all of the furniture falling out of the truck bed and landing on top of said boy because of her (Sasha's) speedy and reckless driving. _He_ ' _s_ one of Carol's friends? How was Sasha supposed to know that?

Giving the defeated cheerleader one last look of disgust, Carol said, "I hope you remember your homework for history class on Monday." Carol then turned around and, without another word, took her leave from the party. …Or rather, what was left of the party. The only ones who remained at the party aside from Sasha were Luna, everyone in Luna's band including Sam, the two Japanese thirteen-year-olds Kira and Atticus, and the Loud twins Lola and Lana, who came out and stood next to their older sister. Those who were wearing disguises took off the bandanas they were using to cover their faces.

Looking up at Luna, Lola said, "And that's how Lana and I get things done."

"…Remind me never to get on your bad side, little dude," Luna remarked to Lola.

"Don't pick on our brother and you got a deal," Lana said, drawing a nod of agreement from her younger twin sister.

With a hint of knowing amusement in her tone and expression, Luna said, "You got it." Everyone then left the summer home, leaving Sasha alone to wallow in pathetically her misery. The head cheerleader could not believe what had just happened. The party was ruined. Her social life was ruined, murdered beyond any hope of recovery.

She couldn't show her face in Royal Woods ever again.

* * *

The following morning, Lola and Lana went down stairs for Saturday morning cartoons. When they got to the kitchen, they were surprised to see Lori, Leni and Luna at the table, drinking coffee. "Oh, 'sup, little dudes?" Luna greeted the twins. Giving them a knowing wink that neither Lori or Leni caught, the musical loud sibling asked, "How did you sleep last night?"

"I had a dream where two men wrestled each other in a mud pit, and the winner became the president of the United States," Lana remarked.

"I had a dream where Lincoln went with me to a farm, and he got me a pony," Lola replied.

"You know," Lori began, "Given that you like ponies Lola, it's literally surprising that you actually despise the Princess Pony series." With a shrug, the oldest Loud sibling continued, "I'd figure that you'd literally be all over that."

"Eww, why would you think that, Lori?" Lola asked in a disgusted tone as she and Lana sat at the table, "That stuff is without a doubt the-"

"Hey everyone!" Luan said as she ran into the kitchen, cutting Lola off in the process "There's this news report saying that some girl named Sasha St. Clare has gone missing!"

"What?" everyone else exclaimed as they ran out into the living room to see what was on the news. All of the rest of the Loud siblings were already in the living room.

"…Went missing sometime late last night," the news anchor said as a picture of Sasha St. Clare was shown on the news, "According to all reports, the seventeen-year-old girl had taken time to pack a bag or two and took fifteen-hundred dollars from her family's account, so this is clearly a case of someone running away from home. If anyone watching this sees any sign of Sasha, you are urged to contact the police right away. And now onto other news. Tom?"

"Thanks, Marvin," the co-anchor said as the news shifted over to him, "We have just received word that a wildfire has started in the wooded area where the St. Clare family summer home is located. Local rescue and emergency teams are already on scene, but experts are already predicting that help from outside of Royal Woods is going to be required if the wildfire is going to be dealt with before it gets too far out of hand. Residents are urged to stay away from the wooded areas until the wildfire is dealt with. And now, onto sports. Roger?"

As the sports portion of the broadcast was playing (Lynn payed close attention to it), Lori turned to face Luna. "You said that Carol was giving you and your band a lift to the party last night, right? You guys didn't give Carol too much trouble, did you?"

"Relax, Lori," Luna replied in a casual tone, "Carol got along with the band and I alright. She's a pretty tight dude, you know."

Lori was about to say something else, but she was cut off when everyone heard a knock at the door, which Leni answered as she was closest to the door. When Leni opened the door, she saw Marie standing there, although she did not recognize the pregnant sixteen-year-old girl.

"Oh, Marie," Lori said when she looked over and saw Sasha's cousin standing there, "My siblings and I just heard about your cousin's disappearance on the news. I am so sorry to hear about that."

"Yeah, it…it really took the wind out of my sails, you know?" Marie replied. Placing a hand over her belly, Marie continued, "But I can't afford to be too depressed. I'm worried that it might do something to the baby."

"Baby?" Leni asked, "What baby?"

"Leni," Lori began to explain to her sister while gesturing to Marie, "Marie here is pregnant. She's expected to give birth in…" Turning to face Marie, Lori asked, "How much longer are you expecting to wait until it comes?"

"I'm still very early into the pregnancy, so I got a good while yet," Marie replied.

"Oh my gosh!" Leni exclaimed excitedly to Marie, "You're having a baby?! Is it going to be a boy or a girl?" Having heard that the girl at the front door was going to have a baby, the other Loud siblings all gathered to hear what was going on.

"I was hoping to be surprised by my baby's gender, but the doctor spoiled that I was going to have a boy," Marie replied, a bit grumpy about having to divulge that the surprise she was hoping for ended up getting spoiled.

"Aww, I'm sorry that the surprised was ruined for you," Leni replied in a sincere, apologetic tone. Changing tune back to her excited tone, the fashionable Loud sibling said, "But you're going to have a baby! This is, like, totes exciting!"

"She's got a point, guv," Luna said with a hint of her practiced British accent slipping in.

"Have you thought of a name for him yet?" Lynn asked.

With a bit of a knowing smile, Marie replied, "Actually, if it was okay with you all and the rest of your family, I was thinking about naming my son Lincoln."

"You want to name your kid after me?" Lincoln replied, a shocked look on his face.

With a bit of a giggle, Marie explained, "Well I did hear from Luna and Lori at school about how you're a really nice kid, so I was hoping that by naming my child after you, my child would grow up to be a nice kid like yourself."

"Well I can't think of a better name for your future baby," Lana said to the pregnant sixteen-year-old girl.

"It sounds like he'll be a real sweet little prince once he's here," Lola said, in a tone that sounded like she was agreeing with what Lana had said, "Although you do realize that by naming your child after my big brother, you're more or less making him your child's godfather, right?"

With an amused smile, Marie said to Lola, "You got a point there, and I can't think of anyone else more suited for the role." To both Loud twins, Marie said, "Thanks, girls." To Lori and Luna, Marie said, "Take care, alright?"

"You can count on us, mate," Luna replied in her practiced British accent as she gave Marie a salute. Bowing her head once in thanks, Marie turned around and took her leave. Once she was on the sidewalk and heading towards the city, the Loud siblings closed the door.

As the siblings proceeded to start going about their Saturday morning business, the twins stopped Lincoln from going anywhere. "Are you okay, Lincoln?" Lana asked, "I mean, a lot of furniture did fall on you."

"I'm fine, Lana," Lincoln replied, "I guess I got lucky with what fell on me and how. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to-" The sole Loud boy was cut off midsentence when Lola and Lana both threw their arms around him and drew him into something of a group hug.

"Please don't get hurt anymore," Lola said as she sounded like she might start crying, "I don't want you getting hurt anymore."

"Same here, Lincoln," Lana added, sounding like she might start crying as well, "You've gotten hurt way too much. Don't get hurt anymore, please." Touched by how the twins were acting, not to mention the fact that it was one of the rare occasions where they weren't arguing with each other, Lincoln could not help but smile. Gently throwing his arms around the backs of his little sisters, the sole Loud boy proceeded to start returning the hug.

"I'll try not to," Lincoln said in a kind, gentle tone, "The one thing I hate more than me getting hurt so much as of late is seeing how you and the rest of our sisters react. I really don't enjoy seeing you girls going through all of that and would never do it if I can help it. Thanks for looking out for me so much."

The twins of the Loud family buried their respective faces into their older brother's shirt as they proceeded to gently cry. As the three siblings hugged each other, Lucy watched from the gate to a vent, as she was in the ventilation system to focus on her poetry writing. The heartfelt display of the sibling bond between Lincoln and the twins touched Lucy's heart, surprising her given that she felt that she didn't have a heart.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Author's notes:

In case any of you aren't aware, Kira and Atticus are OCs from 'Yo-kai Watch Adventures', which is another one of my non-Loud House stories that I have up, and they made guest appearances in this chapter. Anywho, Lola and Lana's time in the spotlight took the longest for me to get through (I kept procrastinating), and I had to make some heavy edits to this chapter at one point. Hopefully the next couple of chapters won't take me anywhere near as long.

Lily is the only sister who hasn't had her time in the spotlight yet, and she is one baby that should never be underestimated. Still, she'll do her part in quick order, as some of the next few chapters will be used for worldbuilding for this setting.

Next time: The Riot


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter twenty-five: The Riot part one- An intentional accident

Waking up from a nap in her crib one pleasant enough day in early Winter, Lily Loud got onto her hands and knees and looked around the room she shared with her big sister Lisa. Those colorful glass bottles that her super-smart big sister was using were not where they were usually kept. Did she finish using them for her work? And why was Lisa even working with them in the first place? The baby Loud sibling had so many questions, and she cursed her inability to talk properly yet, as it kept her from being able to ask any of her questions.

However, to Lily's delight, her big sister Lisa, along with their big brother Lincoln, AKA the best playmate in the world as far as she (Lily) was concerned, came walking into the room. Lisa was carrying one of glass bottles, which was empty and not colored, and Lincoln's hair was blue.

"My apologies, Lincoln," Lisa said to the sole Loud boy, "I had no idea that my experimental medicine would turn your hair blue. It should change back in quick order, though."

"Wait a minute," Lincoln said. Gesturing to the empty glass bottle Lisa held, Lincoln said, " _That_ was the secret project you told me about? You were trying to make a medicine to heal my leg?"

"I figured that you'd like to finally heal your left leg," Lisa replied as she set the empty glass bottle she held back where she usually kept it, "But it seems that I must have missed a few variables when it came to-"

Lisa stopped short when Lincoln picked her up into a hug. "You didn't have to go that far for me, Lisa," Lincoln said in a sincerely touched tone.

"Well, I, umm, had been meaning to experiment around with developing pharmaceuticals at some point," Lisa replied in a flustered manner, "But I had been putting it off. That was, of course, until what you went through nearly three months ago, Lincoln."

"Wincon!" Lily called out in a happy tone, getting both Lincoln and Lisa to turn to see the baby of the family giggle happily as she clapped.

"Oh, Lily's awake," Lisa remarked in a casual tone, "Did you have a good nap, my younger sister unit?"

"Wincon! Wincon!" Lily babbled as she raised her arms up and waved the around. Smiling, Lincoln walked over to Lily's crib, reached in, picked her up, and held her against his chest. This was clearly what the baby Loud sibling had wanted, and she giggled happily while her big brother was holding her.

"Aww, are you happy to see me, Lily?" Lincoln half asked half cooed. At that prompting, Lily nuzzled the side of her head against Lincoln's shoulder.

"It's about time for Lily's lunch," Lisa pointed out to Lincoln as she saw the time on the clock in the bedroom, "And seeing as how she's apparently chosen you to handle her, you should go on and feed her, Lincoln."

"Well mom's not here to do it herself since she had to take care of some shopping, so why not?" Lincoln replied. This prompted a happy giggle out of Lily; the best playmate in the world was also going to get her lunch? Best day ever!

* * *

That was a good lunch as far as Lily was concerned. And seeing as how one of her favorite people in the world was the one who was feeding her, Lily didn't act fussy or otherwise cause any trouble. Whenever her dad or her sister Luan tried to feed Lily, they would always try to crack some kind of joke during feeding time; it's not that Lily didn't like her dad or Luan, it was that she didn't find either of them all that funny. The only funny thing about feeding times with dad or Luan was when they would turn around to take care of something, only for Lily to pelt the back of their head with baby food.

Now _that_ was funny as far as Lily was concerned.

After feeding time, Lincoln took Lily back to her and Lisa's room. Seeing a few of her toys laying around, Lily waved a hand at one of them while babbling excitedly. Seeing this, Lincoln knew what his baby sister was trying to get at. "Oh, you wanna play now?" Lincoln said. Gently sitting Lily down on the floor, Lincoln picked up one of her toys and handed it over to Lily.

"Here you go, Lily," Lincoln said as he handed her the toy. The baby Loud sibling giggled as her toy was handed to her; it was one of her favorite toys, too. Seriously. Best playmate in the world.

Lincoln got up and proceeded to make his way over to the door. Seeing this, Lily cried out, "Wincon!" Stopping short, Lincoln turned around and saw Lily clack two blocks together, set them down, look up at him, then gesture to the blocks.

Smiling, Lincoln said, "Aww, do you want me to play with you, Lily?"

Smiling back at her big brother, Lily giggled a bit before saying, "Poo-poo."

"Well sure, I always have time for the cutest little baby in the world," Lincoln remarked as he walked back over. Hearing her big brother call her the cutest little baby in the world made Lily giggle again.

"So Lils," Lincoln began, "What's the first thing you wanna play with?"

"Poo-poo," Lily replied.

"I…don't think you play with that," the sole Loud boy remarked.

"Poo-poo!" Lily repeated, in a more insisting tone. After a few seconds, Lincoln caught a whiff of something that didn't smell all that good. Realizing what his baby sister was talking about, Lincoln got up, went to pick Lily up, then took her over to the diaper changing station so he could get his baby sister cleaned up.

* * *

"That is literally bogus, Boo-Boo Bear," Lori said into her smartphone; as per usual, Lori was having a phone conversation with her boyfriend Bobby Santiago, whose family moved to the next state over. "I hope everything gets sorted out properly," Lori said, "Anywho, I'm afraid I have to go. My mom literally just got back from the grocery store, and needs help carrying in groceries." After ending the call with her beloved, Lori slipped her smartphone into her shorts pocket before walking out the front door and over to Vanzilla; Rita, the loud family matriarch, had just gotten back from the store with groceries.

"How was the store, mom?" Lori asked in a casual tone as Luna and Leni came out from the house to help with carrying in groceries as well.

"As it turned out, everything I got was on sale," Rita replied. This prompted Lori, Leni and Luna to look at the massive amount of groceries that their mom got.

"All of this…" Luna began in a tone of mild disbelief, "…Was on sale."

With a nod in the affirmative, Rita continued, "You won't believe how much money I saved." As she grabbed a bag out from Vanzilla, the Loud matriarch said, "So what did I miss while I was at the store?"

"I had another talk with Bobby over the phone," Lori remarked.

"Oh, didn't one of his younger cousins go missing?" Rita asked in a concerned tone, "Did he and his family find him yet?"

"…D'oh!" Lori exclaimed as she smacked herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand, "I literally can't believe I forgot to ask about that! And Bobby didn't even bring it up, either."

"I heard you saying that something was, like, totes bogus," Leni remarked, "What was that all about?"

"There's some trial going on over in the courts over where Bobby lives," Lori said, "Apparently, some police officers were way too rough with apprehending some teenagers, and they're in hot water for it."

"That sounds pretty harsh, brah," Luna remarked, "But how exactly is it bogus?"

"The cops are all Hispanic, and the teenagers are Caucasian and African American," Lori explained, "This trial has a lot of the local residents drawing some rather unflattering conclusions about what's going on."

"Oh dear," Rita remarked, "That doesn't sound like it'd be very pleasant to go through."

"What's worse is that Bobby and his folks are literally being given trouble by some of the other people living in their city, simply because of their heritage," Lori continued, a clearly concerned look on her face, "I'm worried that someone may try to hurt my Boo-Boo Bear, and that there's nothing I can do. I can't even be there for him."

"Keep Bobby in your thoughts, dear," Rita said, "You can at least do that for him."

Smiling sympathetically, Lori replied, "Thanks, mom."

"Hey wait a minute," Leni said, "If Bobby is in trouble like that, then does that mean that, like, Ronnie Anne is in trouble as well? Shouldn't we tell Linky what's going on?"

"You got a point, Leni," Luna remarked, "We'll get the groceries inside first, then we tell the bro what's going on." Nodding in agreement, the three oldest Loud girls then began to help their mother carry the groceries inside.

* * *

The following day, Lincoln (his hair returned to normal), Lynn and Lily were at a convenience store. Lynn was on her way to the park to practice one of her many, many sports with some friends, and Lincoln was coming along to watch them play. They were bringing Lily because everyone else would be out, and it would be stupid to leave the baby Loud sibling home alone. "Wait, I'm confused," Lincoln said to his older sister, "Are you and your friends going to practice football or soccer?"

"Soccer," Lynn replied, "But Mitzie keeps calling it football. She says it has to do with referring to soccer as football where she comes from."

"Oh yeah," Lincoln remarked as Lynn gently pushed the stroller Lily was sitting in, "I think Luna got into the habit of referring to soccer as football as well." Giving his sporty older sister a knowing look, the sole Loud boy added, "Up until you made your point to her, that is." As the three Loud siblings left the convenience store, Lincoln said, "Seriously, Lynn. I don't think going as far as-"

"Oh geez," Lynn said as she looked at something in the little compartment in the stroller under Lily's seat, "I left the baby bag in the restroom." Turning Lily's stroller around, Lynn said, "I'm going to go back in for it."

"Don't let me keep you waiting," Lincoln replied as he watched his sisters go back inside of the convenience store. Lincoln was perfectly happy to wait outside; he liked how it was getting to be a bit cooler. Soon the snow would come, and everyone in Royal Woods would get to enjoy a snow-coated holiday season.

…

Lily would have preferred it if she was left with the best playmate in the world, especially since he knew that tickling her tummy while going 'goochy goo, goochy-goochy goo' was guaranteed to get a laugh out of her. But, being a baby meant that she didn't have as much control over where she was left as she would like. Still, Lincoln was waiting outside, and soon they would all be at the park, watching the older kids throw a ball around while Lincoln would tickle her tummy while going 'goochy goo, goochy-goochy goo'.

If her big brother blew raspberries into her tummy, then Lily would be super happy.

"There we go Lils," Lynn said as she pushed the stroller towards the door of the convenience store, "We got the bag with all of your gear in it." Walking out of the automatic door, Lynn continued, "Now we can all head over to the Hey what are you doing to Lincoln?!" Confused, Lily looked around until she saw her big brother laying on the ground in a manner that showed that he was pushed. Standing nearby was a boy roughly the same age as Lincoln, with dark reddish hair.

Seeing that he was spotted, the boy bolted. Lynn could have very easily caught him and made him hurt like hell, but she would get in trouble if she went that route. Besides, she had a younger brother to look after.

"Hey Lincoln, you okay?" Lynn asked in a concerned tone as she helped Lincoln up off of the ground.

"Yeah, that was just Chandler being a jerk again," Lincoln replied, "Although I will admit, this is the first time he ever got physical." With a look of curious wonder, Lincoln said, "It's not like Chandler to act in that specific manner. I wonder what's eating at him."

"I'll find him," Lynn said, "I'll go gather Mitzie and Ulfric, then the three of us will-"

"Lynn, let it go," Lincoln interrupted, "Chandler isn't worth it." Lynn was amazed by how calmly Lincoln was taking this; she was also amazed by how maturely he was handling being pushed around by a bully.

"We should at least tell mom what happened," Lynn replied, "You said the kid's name was Chandler, right?" The two older Loud siblings proceeded to make their way over to the park so Lynn could practice her sports playing with her friends, with Lynn pushing the stroller that Lily was in.

Speaking of Lily, the baby Loud sibling was not happy to see someone being mean to her big brother. Who would want to be mean to Lily's big brother? He's the best playmate in the world! He also takes care of her, like the time she hurt her thumb, and she also likes it when he feeds her when mommy's not available. Lily's big brother was perfect, and Lily wouldn't stand for anyone hurting him! As soon as she could, Lily was going to find the meanie-pants and give him a less that pleasant surprise.

* * *

The following day, Rita and some of her daughters were over at Gus' Game n' Grub, getting lunch out while Lynn Sr. was handling some business of his. "So, Lynn," Luan began, "Lincoln told me when you all got back from the park yesterday that you had to correct your friend Mitzie no less than twelve times about something."

"She kept referring to soccer as football," Lynn explained, "After the twelfth time Mitzie did it, Ulfric referred to soccer as football, but I could tell that he did it to mess with me." With a bit of a smile on her face and a slight but noticeable amount of blushing in her cheeks, Lynn continued, "I can't believe he's comfortable enough around me to playfully joke with me."

"It's weird how an actual barbarian is a more mature and respectable person than a metaphorical barbarian," Lisa remarked dryly before taking a sip of her drink.

As Rita and her daughters that were with her were enjoying themselves, the Loud matriarch looked at a nearby wall clock. "…The wings we ordered are taking way too long to get here," Rita said as she noticed the time. Getting up, Rita said, "Luan, can you keep an eye on your younger sisters?"

"Can do," Luan replied with a salute to her mother; the three oldest Loud girls, Lori, Leni and Luna, were off taking care of something else, and Lincoln was with Lynn Sr, helping him with his business. As such, when Rita left to go inquire about the wings, Luan was left to look over Lynn, Lucy, Lola, Lana, Lisa and Lily.

"I don't know about any of you girls," Luan began, "But I'm still a little peckish. I could sure go for another _pizza_ pizza." As the other girls groaned at their older sister's lame pun while said older sister laughed at her own joke, Lily, who was dressed up in a cute little yellow onesie, decided to wander off; she wasn't about to just sit around and be subject to lame puns. Luckily for the baby Loud sibling, she had good aim.

Getting a hold of a bit of sausage that was a topping on a slice of pizza, Lily threw it at Lana's face in a way that made the tomboyish twin turn to face Lisa. "Why'd you throw a pizza topping at me, Lisa?" Lana asked in a tone that sounded half annoyed and half wanting to accept the challenge that had apparently just been presented to her.

"What are you talking about?" Lisa asked, "I assure you that I-" The brainy Loud sibling was cut off when Lana threw an entire slice of pizza at Lisa's face, causing it to 'splat' all over. Peeling the edible projectile off of her face and setting it on a plate on the table, Lisa then took her glasses off and examined them. "…You got pizza sauce on my glasses, my unsanitary philistine of a sister," Lisa said, her usually dry monotone carrying a hint of annoyance.

"First off, I was born here in Royal Woods, not over in the Philippines," Lana replied, "Second off, you shouldn't have pelted me with-" Lana found herself cut off when, once again, a pizza topping pelted against her face, this time a slice of mushroom. Although thrown by Lily, the baby Loud sibling managed to make it look like it was thrown by Lola.

Turning to regard her younger twin sister, Lana said, "You do realize that this means war."

"What the heck are you-" Lola began, but was cut off when Lana took a cup of soda and splashed it into Lola's face. "You got soda all over my dress!" Lola exclaimed, and soon a three-way food fight between the twins and Lisa began; Lucy ducked underneath the table to avoid getting dragged into the fight, and the two oldest girls at the table wisely decided to go get ahold of their mother. Lily, for her part, managed to slip away the instant Lola cried out about her dress getting soda all over it.

…

Crawling around on the floor of Gus' Game n' Grub, Lily wandered around, taking in all the sights while taking care not to get spotted; if someone saw a baby crawling around, no doubt they would pick her up and inform the establishment of the baby they found. Luckily for her, Lily was small, and thus able to hide relatively well.

The baby Loud sibling was having a ball taking in all of the sights, but one sight that she caught made her stop in her tracks; she saw three boys, all of which looked roughly the same age as her big brother Lincoln, sitting at a table. The one boy, with the darkish reddish hair, was the same boy who had been mean to her big brother outside of the convenience store the previous day.

Thanks to having her super-smart sister Lisa as a roommate, along with how her big brother was really good at always coming up with a plan, Lily picked up a thing or two about coming up with ideas on the fly. And she had just thought of a plan quickly. A plan she knew would make that mean boy pay for what he did to her big brother.

…

"I swear, I thought that girl was going to kill me just because I was messing around with Larry," Chandler said to his two goon-friends. Taking a sip of his soda before going on, Chandler said, "Seriously. Where did Larry get such a violently protective girlfriend?"

"Actually, Chandler," the first goon-friend began in a mildly confused tone, "If the girl you described just know is the same girl that I'm thinking about, then that wasn't Larry's girlfriend. That was one of his many, many sisters."

"Well that would certainly explain why she didn't take too kindly to me merely playing around with Larry," Chandler replied, "I swear, how many sisters can a-"

The conceited boy was cut off when a very young voice called out in random baby babble, getting Chandler and his two goon-friends to look around. It was Chandler who saw a baby girl in a yellow onesie crawling around. She had stopped at the boys' table and was currently looking up at Chandler.

"Hey, it's someone's baby," Chandler said as he saw the baby girl; having not paid all that much attention to yesterday, Chandler failed to recognize that this was Lily, who was in the stroller that was being pushed around by Lynn yesterday. Lily raised her arms up and babbled a bit more. Smiling in amusement, Chandler reached over and picked Lily up, sitting her on his lap.

"I'm not sure who's baby this is, or how she got away from her family," Chandler said, "But we ought to return her. We should at the very least inform the staff here that someone's baby got loose and was wondering around."

"The baby is pretty adorable," Chandler's second goon-friend remarked.

"Well yeah," Chandler's first goon-friend said, "It's a baby. Babies are adorable by default."

Giving Lily a gentle head ruffle, Chandler said, "Do you want to find your mommy now?"

"Pee-pee," Lily replied, talking like how a baby is expected to talk like.

"Oh, you need someone to change your di-" Chandler began, but he stopped midsentence when he felt a wet and warm sensation on his lap. Lifting the baby up, Chandler saw, to his disgust, that there was a wet spot on his right pants leg around the thigh area, which is where the baby was sitting on his lap. Looking at the baby, Chandler saw a very noticeable wet stain on the rear end area of the baby's onesie.

"UGGGGGH!" Candler cried out in disgust, "This baby just peed herself while she was sitting on my lap!"

Lily giggled in amusement while clapping, even saying, "Pee-pee," again. As this was going on, Rita came walking past where Chandler and his friends sat, but stopped short, walked back a few steps, and spotted her youngest daughter.

"Boys, what are you doing with my daughter?" Rita asked the three fifth-grade boys.

"She wandered up to our table on her own, so we figured that we'd pick her up and inform the staff here that someone's baby got loose," Chandler's second goon-friend explained to the Loud matriarch, "But while Chandler had her sitting on his lap, she peed herself and some of it got onto Chandler's pants leg."

Collecting Lily from the boys, Rita could tell right away that something was missing. "Hold on," Rita said with a confused look on her face, "I'm certain you had a clean diaper on before I put you in your onesie." Lily giggled again while babbling a bit; before she crawled up to the table where Chandler and his goon-friends were sitting, Lily found a safe place to hide so no one would see her, took off her onesie, took off her diaper, then put her onesie back on. Lily, when she wants to be, can be just as smart and creative as any of her older siblings. Underestimating her simply because she's a baby is _not_ a very wise thing to do.

"Hey mom," Lynn's voice called out. Walking up to her mother, the sporty Loud sibling said, "You had a point about the kitchen staff here running out of wings for-" Lynn stopped short upon seeing the boy with dark reddish hair.

"Hey!" Lynn exclaimed as she pointed at Chandler, "You're that boy who pushed Lincoln onto the ground yesterday!"

"Excuse me?!" Rita exclaimed, alarmed about hearing that one of her kids had been bullied.

To her mother, Lynn explained while pointing at Chandler, "Yesterday, Lincoln, Lily and I were on our way over to the park, when this jerk here thought it would be all in good fun to push Lincoln over onto the ground!"

"Why I never!" Chandler replied in an offended tone, "I never pushed anyone onto the ground outside of a convenience store!"

"Then how do you know that Lincoln was pushed down in front of a convenience store?" Lynn asked, giving the conceited boy a suspicious look. Chandler's expression changed to one of alarm, showing that the conceited boy realized that he had messed up big time.

* * *

Lynn Sr. and Lincoln pulled up in front of Gus' Game n' Grub. After getting Vanzilla parked, Lynn Sr. got out and, with his son following him, proceeded to make his way into the popular establishment. When they entered, they saw Rita and another woman talking, with the other woman looking ashamed of something. Standing with Rita were the Loud sisters that had gone with their mother to Gus'.

"What's going on here?" Lynn Sr. asked as he and Lincoln came walking up, getting the attention of everyone else.

"I take it that you're Rita's husband?" the other woman replied. After the Loud patriarch replied in the affirmative, the other woman said, "Yeah, Rita and her daughter Lynn were informing me of how my son Chandler had bullied your son, up to and including pushing him onto the ground. I'm sorry about how my son's been treating yours, and you can rest assured that I will make sure that my son will be appropriately disciplined."

"Well that's good," Lynn Sr. replied, "I'm always glad to see it when parents take responsibility for their children's wrongdoing." After Rita, Lynn Sr. and Chandler's mom talked out a few more things, the Loud family all took their leave from Gus' Game n' Grub. As everyone piled into Vanzilla, Lynn Sr. said to Rita, "Since I learned who that woman was and why you were talking to her, can you explain to me why three of our daughters look like they've been fighting with pizza projectiles?"

"Lola, Lana and Lisa had a food fight with each other," Rita explained, "But with the kitchen taking forever to get not just our order of wings but everyone's orders of wings ready, along with Lily wandering off for a bit and our daughter Lynn spotting the boy who had pushed Lincoln onto the ground, I kind of forgot about the food fight up until now."

"Also, dad," Lynn added with clear amusement in her tone, "Lily peed herself on the lap of the boy who pushed Lincoln."

"Lily peed on Chandler?" Lincoln asked, arching an eyebrow.

Giggling cutely, Lily babbled, "Wincon." The baby Loud sibling then waved her arms at her big brother.

Smiling, Rita said, "Aww, do you want your big brother to hold you, sweetie?" Gently handing Lily off to Lincoln, Rita said, "Don't worry, I changed her onesie and got a diaper on her. It still beats me what happened to the one she was wearing earlier."

While in her big brother's arms, Lily cooed softly while laying her head against Lincoln's shoulder. Smiling, Lincoln gently patted his baby sister on the back. "Well aren't you the sweetest baby ever, Lils," Lincoln remarked, "Did you really pee on the boy who pushed me to the ground yesterday?"

"Wincon," Lily babbled as she gently nuzzled against her big brother's shoulder. Still smiling gently, Lincoln gave his baby sister a gently ruffle on the top of her head.

"Yeah, let's get you into your baby seat so we can all get home," Lincoln remarked.

"He's got a point," Lynn Sr. said to the rest of the Loud brood, "We ought to get going home. Lori called me and said that she, Leni and Luna need to tell us about something rather important that they're doing for some friends who will be out of state for the next few days. I think Lori mentioned something about pet sitting?"

"Well that doesn't sound too bad, dear," Rita replied as she and the rest of the family all got into Vanzilla. As Lincoln made sure Lily was securely in her baby seat, Rita said to Lynn Sr., "Did Lori, Leni and Luna say what kind of dog or cat they were looking after?"

"Well I know that Lori said that one of the pets is a dog," Lynn Sr. began, "As for the other two pets, well…I wouldn't exactly say that they're what you'd call 'normal pets'."

"Oh, they're exotic pets," Rita replied casually, "Well that shouldn't be too difficult, especially given Lana's skill with working with animals. Are the other two pets, like, snakes or something else along those lines?" Hearing the possibility that there would be more snakes in the house made Lana excited and Lola mildly revolted.

"…No, but rest assured that both animals can be legally kept as pets in Michigan," Lynn Sr. replied, "So don't freak out when you see them."

* * *

Lynn Sr., Rita, Lincoln and the seven youngest Loud girls stood in the living room as they saw what was going on; a Tibetan Mastiff was standing on the sofa while Geo the Hamster, in his ball, was looking up at him. The large, powerful dog was barking at Geo in a way to suggest that not only should the little creature not come any closer, but that the Tibetan Mastiff was actually _afraid_ of a creature that was roughly the same size as his poop.

Cliff the cat was chasing a fox around the living room, and judging by the noises the fox was making, it did not really appreciate being harassed by the Loud family's pet cat. Luna was sitting on the sofa opposite of the end that the Tibetan Mastiff was on, a skunk on her lap; the skunk looked perfectly content sitting on someone's lap, being in their company. Charles, the Loud family's (rather small) Pitbull terrier, was regarding the skunk with a look that seemed to be jealousy. Walt, the Loud family's pet bird, was in his cage, mostly just sitting there.

Standing in front of the returning family members were Lori and Leni; the oldest Loud sister had a somewhat sheepish look on her face.

"…Umm, yeah," Lori began, "Leni, Luna and I are watching the pets that my friend Allison and her siblings own."

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Author's notes:

I looked it up; both skunks and foxes can be legally kept as pets in Michigan, assuming that you follow the appropriate laws and regulations. I'm not sure if a family can keep _both_ a skunk _and_ a fox at the same time, but then again, when has a fanfic ever followed real life down to the letter? Anywho, the next chapter will go more into detail about the Loud siblings, more specifically the three oldest siblings, watching the pets of the Ace siblings.


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter twenty-six: The Riot part two- Pet sitting party

In the evening after most of the Loud family returned from Gus' Game n' Grub, they found the only Louds to not come, Lori, Leni and Luna, had taken on a rather big responsibility, that being that they were pet sitting for their friends, the Ace siblings, while the Aces were in the next state over, helping their grandaunt handle the final affairs of her husband, their granduncle, who had recently passed away.

Rita, the Loud matriarch, wasn't all that surprised to see Fenrir, Allison Ace's pet Tibetan Mastiff, as she had seen the large dog a few times before; Fenrir had even been over on one occasion, acting as a taste-tester for a unique kind of dog biscuit that Lisa had invented. Granted, the dog's sheer size made her a bit wary at first, but that was in the past; it helped that Fenrir was essentially a living teddy bear.

What _did_ throw Rita for a bit of a loop was seeing the other two animals that her three oldest daughters had taken responsibility for; a skunk and a fox. At first Rita thought that some of the animals that Lana looks after had gotten loose, but she had been informed by Lori that both the skunk and the fox did indeed belong to the Ace family.

"Father is right in regard to the fact that skunks and foxes can be legally kept as pets in this state," Lisa informed her mother, "So long as the appropriate laws and regulations are followed."

"What about pet sitting those animals?" Rita asked.

"Allison and her family literally won't be gone long enough for that to be a problem, mom," Lori replied, "Besides, with all of the emergency workers still helping out with the ongoing wildfire, I literally doubt that the police are going to bother us about Spirit and Kyubi."

"Are those their names?" Lana asked as she stroked the back of the pet skunk on Luna's lap.

"Oh yeah," Lincoln remarked, "I actually saw them a few times when I was over at the Ace residence for kendo lessons a while back. Spirit is Amy's pet skunk, and Kyubi is Aggro-sensei's pet fox."

Watching the red fox hop onto the sofa and yip at Cliff the cat to go away, Lana remarked, "Man, he doesn't like playing with Cliff, does he?"

"Kyubi is actually a girl," Lori explained, "And Cliff is literally bothering her, so you've got to figure."

"Is it safe to keep a skunk in the house?" Lola asked, "I mean, they can leave a really terrible smell all over the place."

"Spirit is a pet skunk, Lola," Lisa began, "Which means that he's obviously been deodorized."

"Deodorized?" Lola repeated in a confused tone.

"The thing that allows skunks to produce the quote unquote 'really terrible smell' are two glands that produce a liquid mix," Lisa began to explain in simple terms, "It's that liquid mix that makes the really terrible smell. When someone says that a skunk has been deodorized, that means that the glands have been surgically removed."

"Well that stinks," Lana remarked, "I was hoping that he could still make that smell. It would have been fun to see Lola's reaction to smelling it."

"No way!" Lola exclaimed, and the two twins proceeded to get into a fight that was soon broken up by their older brother.

"Thanks for that, Lincoln," Lori remarked. To the family as a whole, Lori continued, "Look, Leni, Luna and I are sorry if this came out of the blue. But Allison, Aggro and Amy are close friends of ours, and we do kind of owe them."

"Well," Lynn Sr. replied, "A skunk and a fox aren't any more unusual compared to some of the other animals I've seen Lana handle, so I don't see why not."

"And that skunk seems like an absolute sweetheart," Rita remarked.

"Amy said that Spirit loves being with people," Luna said as she continued to pet the skunk that was on her lap.

"What about the fox, though?" Rita asked, "It's been bothering Cliff, so shouldn't we keep it away from him?"

"Aggro's fox totes isn't bothering Cliff," Leni stated, "It's, like, the other way around. If anything, Cliff should totes be kept away from her." Looking back over to where Kyubi was, she was now standing on the closest arm of the sofa to the family as a whole; she seemed intent on yipping at Cliff to go away. Sighing, Rita walked over and collected Cliff; seeing the cat being taken away seemed to have calmed down the nervous vixen.

"Well girls," Rita said to her three oldest daughters, "If you think you can handle looking after your friends' pets for them, then I don't see why I should say no. And I'm certain that your siblings wouldn't mind pitching in to help, assuming you let them, of course."

"Oh, Kyubi totes loves being petted by Linky," Leni remarked, "I remember that from when Linky went over for sword-fighting lessons from Aggro."

"And I still have a box of the special dog biscuits that Lisa invented," Lana stated, "I can split it with Fenrir if he wants."

"Spirit is free to join me, Charles, Cliff, Walt and Geo for seances if he wishes," Lucy offered. Rita and Lynn Sr. both chuckled a bit. Lori chuckled a bit as well, amused and more than a little grateful that her siblings would be behind her on this one. The next few days in the Loud family residence were going to be very interesting indeed.

* * *

Lori could not believe it; she and her beloved Bobby Boo-Boo Bear were standing together alone on a beach at sunset, looking into each other's eyes. The setting, the time of day, Bobby himself; ooh, Lori could not believe how literally perfect everything was. If only this moment would last forever, then the oldest Loud sibling would be happy.

"Ooh, this is literally the most romantic outing that we've ever had, Boo-Boo Bear," Lori cooed as she gently hugged her boyfriend, "Will this last forever?"

In response, Bobby gently stroked Lori's left cheek with the back of his hand, getting Lori to look up at his eyes after the gentle, loving gesture. Bobby then leaned in closer towards Lori's face, making Lori's eyes widen in anticipation; was her Boo-Boo Bear going to kiss her? Ooh, that would be so-

Lori's thought stopped suddenly when her Boo-Boo Bear, for reasons that escaped her, licked the side of her face. "B-Bobby," Lori said in a tone of surprise, "That was…rather bold." In response to Lori's comment, Bobby made a sort-of grumbling sound, which sounded like it actually came from some sort of animal, probably a dog. A confused look on her face, Lori said, "Huh?"

…

In real life, Lori was currently lying in bed, having a dream about her Boo-Boo Bear, while Fenrir, who wandered into Lori's and Leni's room, was standing next to Lori's bed. Grumbling in a mildly confused tone, Fenrir started to lick Lori's face while he wagged his tail, thinking that licking the human's face would get the human to wake up.

Slowly, Lori woke up, and the first thing she saw was a large dog licking her face. Eyes widening in surprise, Lori jolted awake and scooted away from Fenrir, going, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Seeing that Lori was now awake, Fenrir gave a happy sounding woof before lowering his head to the floor, picking something up, and tossing it onto Lori's bed.

Seeing the dog leash that Fenrir tossed onto her bed, Lori sighed in a resigned tone. "Hey Leni," Lori called out as she turned to face the direction of her sister's bed, "We've got to-" Lori stopped short upon seeing that Kyubi was standing on Leni's bed, trying to wake Leni up the same way that Fenrir just woke herself (Lori) up.

Leni was obviously still asleep, as she seemed to be talking in her sleep, giggling a bit. "Ooh, you're, like, totes bold, Aggro," Leni said as she was talking in her sleep, but she was cut off before her sleep talking could continue.

"Leni!" Lori called out at a much louder volume. Lori's shout must have worked, because Leni shot awake right away. Sitting straight up, accidentally shoving Kyubi off to the side somewhat, Leni removed her sleep mask and turned to face her older sister. "Oh, good morning, Lori," Leni greeted in a friendly tone. The fashionable Loud sibling noticed right away that the young vixen that she and her siblings were watching was sitting on her bed next to her.

"Ooh, and good morning to you to, Kyubi," Leni greeted as she petted the female fox's head gently, "I had a really good dream last night. You wanna hear about it while I'm making myself a smoothie for breakfast?" Kyubi gave a friendly sounding yip as her tail gently swished back and forth.

"Leni, we should literally walk the pets as soon as possible," Lori pointed out to her younger sister, "And not just the pets that we're watching for Allison and her siblings. We should also give Charles a walk as well."

"Just let me do my morning getting-ready routine," Leni said, "I've totes got to brush out my hair, you know."

Sighing, Lori said, "Whatever. Just don't take too long, alright?"

* * *

Out of the Loud siblings, Lori, Leni, Luna, and Lincoln were walking Fenrir, Kyubi, Spirit and Charles respectively. Although Leni, Luna and Lincoln had no trouble keeping ahold of the animals that they were walking, Lori wasn't walking Fenrir, so much as the Tibetan Mastiff was dragging Lori along behind him; the oldest Loud sibling was having great difficulty in trying to keep Fenrir's leash from getting out of her grasp.

"Allison must literally be the toughest girl at school if she can walk a dog like this no problem on the daily basis!" Lori cried out as Fenrir was excitedly going all over as he was being walked.

"He's just happy to be out for some fresh air, brah," Luna remarked, "I mean, look at Charles. He's just the same." Lori looked to where Charles was practically hopping around out of excitement as Lincoln was walking him.

"Yes, but Charles is literally much smaller," Lori pointed out, a bit calmer since Fenrir stopped to sniff a fire hydrant, thus he wasn't yanking her all over the place. Sighing, Lori continued, "The next time I have to take Fenrir for a walk, I'm getting two extra leashes and two of our sisters to help me control him."

"He totes can't be that bad, Lori," Leni remarked.

"You try walking Fenrir on your own, then," Lori replied in a dry, bemused tone.

* * *

Later that morning, Lori was sitting on one end of the sofa in the living room, with Leni sitting on the other end. Kyubi was laying on the fashionable Loud sibling's lap, clearly enjoying Leni gently stroking her back. "Aww," Leni cooed to Kyubi as the vixen tried rolling over onto her back in hopes that Leni would stroke her stomach, "You're, like, totes adorable!"

Seeing her younger sister petting the pet fox that they were watching, Lori could not help but smirk in an amused manner. "You know, Leni," Lori began, "For a fox, Kyubi is surprisingly tame. She's literally like a house cat with the personality of an affectionate puppy."

"Is that why I saw her using Cliff's litter box earlier?" Leni asked as she turned to face her older sister.

With a mildly confused look on her face, Lori remarked, "Well that might explain why Cliff has been bothering her a lot." The two oldest Loud siblings turned their attention back to the TV, which was playing some sort of show girls in their age group liked to watched. As the two girls watched the show, Fenrir came walking over. Using his nose, the Tibetan Mastiff nudged Lori's hand that was resting on the arm of the sofa, getting Lori's attention.

"Oh, hey Fenrir," Lori greeted, "What do you-" Lori was cut off when Fenrir hopped up onto the sofa then tried crawling onto Lori's lap, making the oldest Loud sibling cry out in surprise. When Fenrir was as much into Lori's lap as he could get, he proceeded to lay out. Although Lori thought that Fenrir crawling onto her lap was way too much, Leni thought the sight of it was kind of cute.

"Aww," Leni gushed, "Allison was right! Her dog thinks that he's a lap dog!"

"But he's literally way too big to be a lap dog!" Lori remarked as she tried, and failed, to shove Fenrir out of her lap. After about half a minute, Lori just flumped back against the sofa in defeat, hoping that Fenrir would get up off of her lap soon enough of his own accord.

* * *

Later, Luna was in the garage, setting up to practice her guitar playing. She even had a few of her younger siblings helping her set up; specifically, Lincoln, Lisa, Lola and Lana. As they were getting everything ready, Lana said to Lola, "Wait a minute, you had Amy's skunk come to one of your tea parties?"

"Well mom had a point about how Spirit is really affectionate," Lola pointed out, "Plus he knew what to do at the tea party. I think that it wasn't the first tea party that he's been to."

"Oh yeah, little dude," Luna remarked to her pageant winning sister, "Amy said that her little sister Anna usually corrals all of the family pets into playing tea party with her from time to time. Amy says that she doesn't really like it all that much when Anna tries to put an outfit of some sort onto Spirit."

With a mildly annoyed tone, Lola said, "Well due to the last time I had Charles and Cliff at a tea party, they tore up the outfits that I put on them for-" Lola was cut off when Luan came into the garage suddenly.

"Hey, have any of you seen my video camera?" Luan asked.

"Why are you looking for your video camera, Luan?" Lincoln replied.

"You all know about that one animated movie with the bunny cop and her fox partner?" Luan began, and after everyone nodded in the affirmative, Luan said, "Yeah, I was planning on trying to recreate a scene from that movie, using Gary and Kyubi. I got both of them waiting in the living room together, so now all I need to do is-"

"Excuse me for a moment," Lisa interrupted, "But did I just hear you correctly when you said that you left your pet rabbit alone with Aggro's pet fox?"

With a mildly confused look on her face, Luan said, "How is that a problem?"

"Domesticated or not, Kyubi is still a fox," Lisa explained, "If you leave a rabbit alone with her, chances are that Kyubi will attack it, kill it, then try to eat it."

"Oh no!" Luan exclaimed as she turned around and ran back into the house, with her siblings following behind her. Upon entering the living room, they saw Gary, Luan's pet rabbit, sitting on the coffee table, a toy police badge laying on the coffee table next to him. Sighing in relief, Luan said, "Thank goodness that Gary's okay."

"Wait a minute," Lincoln said, "If Gary's still there, what happened to Kyubi?" Suddenly, Lincoln and the others heard Leni cry out in mild alarm from the kitchen. They all ran to see what happened, and to their relief, Leni was alright. There were a number of blueberries on the floor of the kitchen, though.

"Leni, what happened?" Luna asked.

"I was, like, trying to make a blueberry smoothie," Leni explained, "But I accidentally dropped the container of blueberries that we got, and now they're all over the floor, and now I can't use them to make a smoothie." As the Loud siblings all turned their attention to the floor where the blueberries were scattered, Kyubi wandered into the kitchen, walked over to the spilled berries, and began to eat them off of the floor.

"Ha!" Luan exclaimed in amusement as she pointed to where the young vixen was helping to clean up the mess in her own way, "A fox is eating blueberries!" The others all thought that the sight was kind of amusing as well.

* * *

Lucy was having another one of her seances, as per usual. Charles, Cliff, Walt and Geo had come to take part in the séance, as they do from time to time. Fangs, Lucy's pet bat, was perched next to Walt; the two flying animals sat next to each other as if they were good friends. "Okay, everyone," Lucy said to the gathered animals, "We're about ready to communicate with-"

Lucy was cut off when she heard an animal make some sort of noise. Turing in the direction the noise came from, Lucy and the animals saw Spirit standing there. The deodorized skunk wandered over to the table where Lucy had everything set up, and then sniffed the table out of curiosity. Seeing the skunk's interest, Lucy cracked a small but amused smile.

"Would you like to join us, Spirit?" Lucy offered, getting the skunk's attention in the process, "We're about to communicate with the incorporeal beings that you're named after." Spirit wandered over to where Lucy sat and nuzzled his head against the side of her leg. The gothic Loud sibling gently petted Spirit, which obviously made the deodorized skunk happy.

"I'll take that as a yes," Lucy remarked.

* * *

Up in Lori and Leni's room, Leni was working on something over at her sewing machine while Lori was laying on her bed, talking on her smartphone to her Bobby Boo-Boo Bear. "That's great to hear, Boo-Boo Bear," Lori said into the phone, "I knew your grandfather had a bright idea when he let you help out at-" Lori was cut off when Fenrir hopped up onto Lori's bed, making the oldest loud sibling cry out in surprise.

"No!" Lori said in an ordering tone to the Tibetan Mastiff, "Down, boy! Get off of my bed!" Speaking into her phone, Lori said, "Sorry, Bobby, but I literally have to go. One of the pets that my siblings and I are pet sitting clearly Fenrir you get back here with that teddy bear, Bobby got it for me!" Lori ended the call prematurely because Fenrir took a stuffed animal that was sitting on Lori's bed near her pillows and hopped off of the bed.

Putting her smartphone on her nightstand, Lori got off of her bed and stood on the floor, giving Fenrir a firm glare. "Don't you dare do anything to that bear," Lori said in a warning tone, "My boyfriend Bobby won that for me at a game booth when we had a date to the last carnival that was here in Royal Woods before Bobby's family moved out of town!" Fenrir just stood there, looking up at Lori, as he wagged his tail. "Leni," Lori said without taking her eyes off of the dog that took her teddy bear hostage, "I literally need your help in getting Fenrir to return the teddy bear that Bobby got for me!"

"Come on, boy," Leni said in a kind tone after taking a break from her sewing. Turing around on the stool she was sitting on, Leni continued, "Please be a sweetie and return the teddy bear, okay?" Turning to regard Leni, Fenrir walked over to her, deposited the teddy bear in her lap, then proceeded to nuzzle his head into Leni's lap, knocking the teddy bear off in the process. With an amused giggle, Leni started petting Fenrir's head.

"See, Lori?" Leni remarked, "All he wanted was some attention. You really ought to spend some time playing with Fenrir and the other pets that we're watching for Aggro and his sisters." Lori walked over, picked up her teddy bear, and held it as she looked down to where Fenrir stood next to Leni.

"Well he literally didn't have to steal my teddy bear to get my attention," Lori remarked in a mildly bemused tone. Walking back over to her bed, Lori laid her teddy bear back where it was originally sitting before the Tibetan Mastiff took it. Turning around, Lori said, "If I can get two extra leashes and two of our siblings to help me, I can take Fenrir for a walk."

* * *

After her experience from the first time she tried to walk Allison's Tibetan Mastiff, Lori felt literally justified in getting two of her siblings to help her keep a hold on the large, powerful dog. Luckily for Lori, she ended up getting Lynn and Luna, who Lori felt were arguably the two most physically powerful of the Loud siblings, to help her with walking Fenrir.

"Wow, Lori," Lynn remarked as she, Lori and Luna each held one of the three leashes that Lori had attached to Fenrir's collar, "You weren't kidding when you said that you needed help walking this dog!" Even though she, Lori and Luna were all working together to keep Fenrir in check, the athletic Loud sibling could tell full well that, were she alone in walking the dog, that even she would be dragged all over the place.

"Now you see why I literally didn't want to have to walk Fenrir again unless I got help to do it," Lori replied to Lynn, "There's no way I would have been able to control-"

"Well I'll be," a familiar older male voice called out, getting the three Loud sisters to look over; the girls were walking past the house of their next-door neighbor Mr. Grouse, and he was out checking his mailbox. He looked over and saw that Lori, Luna and Lynn were walking Fenrir. "Hey Louds," Mr. Grouse said in a conversational tone of mild surprise, "You never said that you all had a Tibetan Mastiff."

"Wait a minute, Mr. G," Luna said to her family's older neighbor, "How do you know what kind of dog Fenrir is?"

"I've had a hand in raising and breeding Tibetan Mastiffs here in the Royal Woods area for well over thirty years, young lady," Mr. Grouse replied, "No finer breed of dog out there, if you ask me. Unfortunately, I had to step out of the business when age started making things difficult for me. Can you imagine a man my age trying to walk a dog like that on my own?"

"Why do you think I literally had to get two of my siblings to help me walk my friend's dog?" Lori remarked in a bemused tone.

"Oh, your family didn't really get a new dog?" Mr. Grouse said.

"Luna, Leni and I agreed to pet sit for friends of ours while they're out of state for a few days," Lori explained. Gesturing to the dog that she and her sisters were walking, Lori continued, "Fenrir here is my friend Allison's dog." Fenrir, out of friendly curiosity, walked over to the Louds' older neighbor, sniffed at his shins, then looked over to one of Mr. Grouse's hands and proceeded to start licking it. Chuckling out of amusement, Mr. Grouse proceeded to pet Fenrir with his free hand, which only served to make Fenrir wag his tail.

"Hoo boy, this sure brings back memories," Mr. Grouse replied, his tone showing that he was recalling fond memories of the past. Looking up from Fenrir to the girls, Mr. Grouse said, "Well, I suppose I bothered you three enough. I ought to let you continue on your way."

"See ya later, Mr. Grouse," Lynn said as she and her older siblings took their leave to continue walking Fenrir. The large dog then shot forward, dragging three girls behind him.

* * *

Later that day, as the Loud siblings were in the living room watching TV, their father Lynn Sr. came through the front door, having returned from work. "Hey dad," Luna greeted when she turned to face the door upon hearing it open and seeing her dad walk in, "How was work?"

"Work was good enough," Lynn Sr. replied in a mildly concerned tone, and with a look of concern on his face as well. Neither of these went unnoticed by his children.

"Dad, what happened?" Lincoln asked, "You look like something bad happened."

"Well, not at work," Lynn Sr. replied, "But during a break that Sergei and I took, Sergei saw a news report on his new smartphone, concerning that trial taking place in the city where the Santiagos moved to."

"Oh yeah, my Boo-Boo Bear told me about that trial," Lori remarked as her tone started getting just a little bit apprehensive, "What happened?"

"According to what Sergei saw on the news report, the police officers that were on trial were all acquitted," Lynn Sr. said, "And as soon as word of the officers getting acquitted got out, a lot of the locals were…less than thrilled, to say the least."

"The officers were acquitted?" Leni asked, "Like, what does that mean?"

"It basically means that the judge let them off the hook, Leni," Lori replied, "But that's literally not the point right now." To the Loud family patriarch, Lori said, "Dad, did Sergei say anything else about the news report he saw on his-"

"Oh, here's a breaking news report that may interest everyone," Lisa said as she had a laptop on her lap, "Apparently, a full blown city-wide riot is currently going on over in the city where the trial took place."

"A RIOT?!" the other Loud siblings (aside from Lily for obvious reasons) all exclaimed in unison. The look on Lynn Sr.'s face confirmed that what Lisa had said was right.

Further scanning the article that she was looking at, Lisa said, "According to reports, at least eighty-nine people so far have been confirmed to have been killed. Most of those who have been killed are persons of Hispanic heritage, having been targeted by persons of the racial groups that the teenagers beaten by the officers all belong to."

"This can't be real, brah," Luna remarked in a shocked tone as she gently shook her head in the negative, "This can't be-"

"I'm heading over there right now," Lori said suddenly, cutting Luna off in the process. Turning to face Lynn Sr. Lori said, "Dad, I literally need the keys to Vanzilla."

"No way, young lady," Lynn Sr. replied in a firm but understanding tone, "Not only is that far too much distance for you to go off in, but you heard what Lisa said. A city-wide riot is going on over there at the moment. People have even been _killed_."

"But my Boo-Boo Bear is in danger!" Lori replied, "Not only is he smack dab in the middle of that riot, but he could be targeted by mad rioters, simply because of his heritage! If something happens to him, I literally have no idea what I'd do!"

"Can't you, like, call Bobby to see if he's okay?" Leni suggested, "It would save a lot of time."

Realizing that she was not going to be able to head over to where beloved was so she could be there for him, Lori took her smartphone out and proceeded to call Bobby, hoping that calling him would not put him in any danger. Lori even walked up the stairs and into her and Leni's room, as she had a feeling that she was going to get very emotional as she talked on the phone.

…

After about half an hour, Lori came back down stairs, tear stains running down the side of her face. "Bobby is safe," Lori said to her worried family, "He and his grandfather managed to get to the safety of their home. Bobby's grandmother, as well as his cousins Carl and Carlitos, are also safely at home. And Mrs. Santiago is currently working at the local hospital, so she's safe too."

"Wait, you said that one of Bobby's boy cousins went missing, right?" Lynn Sr. asked, "What about that Carlota boy?"

"Carlota is a girl, dad," Lori pointed out, "Bobby told me it that was his cousin Carlos who went missing."

"Jeez, that can't be good," Lincoln said in a concerned tone; he remembered the time he played around with the oldest of the three Casagrande boys. Lincoln thought that Carlos was a good kid, and as such, he sincerely hoped that he'd be found, safe and sound.

"Wait, what about the rest of Bobby's family?" Lynn asked as she and the rest of the Loud siblings turned to face their oldest sister.

Taking a breath to steady herself, Lori said, "Bobby told me that…that his aunt, uncle, cousin Carlota and Ronnie Anne were not home at the time I talked to him. They're all unaccounted for." Struggling to keep from losing it, Lori said, "Bobby, his youngest cousins and their grandparents have no idea about how any of their unaccounted family members are doing right now, and not knowing that is tearing them apart inside."

"That is…that is a feeling that all of here can sympathize with," Lisa remarked aloud, a hint of hesitancy in her usually dry monotone, "After all, considering what happened close to three months ago…" The brainy Loud sibling, her gaze shifting to her older brother, didn't finish her sentence, trailing off instead.

The Louds all wore looks of concerned worry on their faces, but none were more worried than Lori and Lincoln. After all, the two of them each has someone very close to them who is in great danger; Lincoln was especially worried, as Ronnie Anne is currently unaccounted for. The animals, both those owned by the Louds and the three pets owned by the Aces, sensed the mood, prompting them to all meander over to the humans to try and comfort them by nudging against them, and overall just being there for them.

* * *

A few days after the Louds got news of the riot, the three oldest Loud siblings were getting breakfast in the kitchen when they heard a knock at the door. It was Lori who answered the door, and to her surprise, Allison Ace, along with her younger twin brother Aggro and their fifteen-year-old sister Amy, were standing at the door. "We have returned to Royal Woods victorious," Allison said to the oldest Loud sibling, "And thus we are here to collect our pets, as well as pay you and your family for the service of watching our pets for us."

Lori was relieved that the Aces had finally returned, and a little excited since she and her siblings were about to be paid. Since they had to watch Fenrir, Kyubi and Spirit for a few days longer than anticipated, Lori hoped that she and her siblings would be paid a little extra. However, all thought of payment fled Lori's mind when she realized that Allison spoke in a tone that sounded like Allison was both too tired and too shocked to express anything else. The look on Allison's face was of a similar disposition as Allison's tone, and both the look on Aggro's face and the look on Amy's face matched that of Allison's.

"…Are you three okay?" Lori asked, concern clear in her tone.

"We are…exhausted is all," Allison explained, "Our time assisting our grandaunt took a rather interesting turn."

"Interesting…how?" Lori asked, sounding like she was afraid of what the female Ace twin would say. As Lori stood at the door, Leni and Luna came wandering over, and thus they saw the three oldest Ace siblings.

"Hey Aggro!" Leni greeted in a happy, cheerful tone, "So you and your sisters are here to pick up your pets, huh? Well let me tell you that they were, like, total angels while we were watching them, Kyubi especially."

"I'm…glad to hear that my pet and the pets of my sisters apparently behaved themselves while we were gone, Leni," Aggro said, his tone sounding drained, similar to that of Allison's. It was then that Leni and Luna noticed the drained, tired, dare they say shell-shocked looks on the faces of the Ace siblings.

"Dudes, are you guys okay?" Luna asked, a look of concern on her face.

"Allison said that something came up while she and her siblings were with their grandaunt," Lori said. Turning to regard the Ace siblings, Lori asked, "What happened, exactly?"

"I don't suppose you heard of that city-wide riot that took place, did you?" Amy asked, "It finally ended late yesterday afternoon."

"Yeah, it was literally all over the news," Lori said, "Heck, new developments on news concerning the-"

"Our grandaunt lives in the city where the riot took place," Amy interrupted, cutting the oldest Loud sibling off in the process, and drawing shocked look out of Lori, Leni and Luna, "We were there when the violence broke out."

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Author's notes:

Remember when I said that I had a minor sub-plot for this story in mind for increased drama? You know, where one of Bobby's boy cousins goes missing? Well, after reviewing each of those three boys, I came to the conclusion that, regardless of which one I picked, I'd be playing with some rather serious fire. To be as fair as possible, I took a six-sided die, assigned Carlitos numbers one and two, Carl numbers three and four, Carlos Jr. numbers five and six, then rolled the die ten times, with whichever numbers I got determining which of the Casagrande boys would go missing. I ended up rolling Carlos Jr.'s numbers a total of six times.

Carlos Jr. being the one to go missing kind of reminds me of his ultimate fate in my 'Broken Mirror: New War' story. Rest assured that Carlos Jr.'s ultimate fate in THIS setting is, as of this moment, undecided. I'll be needing some time to figure out what exactly I want to do with Carlos Jr. in the 'Ten reasons' universe. I'll also be considring suggestions from comments, but only from ones that were made while the person was signed in (suggestions from guest comments will be ignored).

Anywho, the next chapter will not only wrap up this arc, but this story as a whole. For those who've stuck around since the beginning of Lynn's arc, thanks. To give you all fair warning, the next chapter will include some racial slurs, not to mention a lot of strong swearing and some VERY serious violence. You're about to see why exactly I gave this story the M rating.


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ten reasons

Chapter twenty-seven: The Riot part three- Total Chaos

By the time the Ace family arrived at their destination, it was already mid to late afternoon. But then again, given that Ashe Ace and her children had to go from one state to another, even though the two states are adjacent, it's understandable that it took them a while to arrive at the residence of Ashe's aunt, the grandaunt of Ashe's children.

The first to exit the Ace family van after it parked outside of an apartment building was a six-year-old girl. Like the rest of her family, the young ace girl had fair skin. The girl's brown hair hung loose, rather than being up in some pigtails, or another similar style girls her age might spring for. The girl wore a light purple long-sleeved shirt with a white kitty face approximately the center, a purple skirt that reached her knees, white socks, black shoes, and a little yellow hat similar to that worn by young children over in Japan. The young Ace girl even had a yellow bag to go along with the hat.

"Yay! We're finally here!" the girl exclaimed excitedly, "When do we get to see grandaunt?"

"Anna-chan, calm down," an older male voice called out, making the six-year-old Ace girl turn around to see her older brother Aggro climb out of the van. Even though he was trying to calm his grade school-aged sister, the male Ace twin's tone clearly carried a hint of amusement at his little sister's excitement.

"But we drove a super long way to get here, Onii-san," Anna replied, "We've been keeping grandaunt waiting for us a lot. It's not nice to keep her waiting."

"She understands that, since we live in the next state over, that it takes us a while to get here," Aggro explained to Anna, "She won't hold us taking a while to get here against us."

"He's got a point, sis," a younger male voice called out, prompting Anna and Aggro to turn to see two boys come walking out from the other side of the Ace family van. One of the boys was Andy, Aggro's ten-year-old brother. He was wearing his usual red-and-white outfit consisting of a jersey and a pair of gym shorts; he also wore a simple necklace with the traditional Thor's hammer charm on it.

The other boy had brown hair that was of a somewhat lighter shade than Anna's (his hair reached the base of his neck), and he wore a pair of glasses, a light brownish long-sleeved shirt under a green t-shirt, a pair of cargo shorts of a similar shade as his long-sleeved shirt, white socks and black shoes. This second boy looked a bit younger than Andy, if only by virtue of being shorter than the ten-year-old Ace boy.

"Hey Argent, you think we'll order some pizzas for dinner, given the time that we got here?" Andy asked the somewhat younger boy next to him.

"Knowing our grandaunt, she probably had cooked dinner in anticipation of us getting here," the younger Ace boy, apparently named Argent, replied to Andy, "She wouldn't suffer us to eat take-out, or any food ordered over the phone, if she can help it."

"He has a point, Andy," a familiar older female voice called out, prompting the Ace siblings to turn to see Allison and Amy come walking over. It had been Allison, the oldest (technically) of the Ace siblings, who had called out. "Pizza is all well and good, don't get me wrong," Allison went on, "But there's something about food cooked at home that cannot be beaten by anything whipped up by pressing a few buttons on some phone."

"Well I was just wondering," Andy replied, "I mean, given the time that we got here, you can't honestly blame me for making that assumption, can you?"

"A fair point," Allison admitted, "But enough of that for now. The six of us have a grandaunt to go in and greet!"

"That reminds me," Argent began in a mildly curious tone, "Why did Alphonse and Astrid stay with our grandparents back in Royal Woods instead of coming here with us?"

"Astrid had that little trouble with her kidneys, if you will recall," Amy explained, "And Alphonse was needed to help our grandfather with some sort of chore or whatever."

"Oh yeah," Anna said in a tone that was mildly upset and clearly worried, "Astrid onee-san isn't feeling very well."

With a small but reassuring smile on his face, Aggro patted Anna on the head as he said, "Our sister is stronger than you give her credit for, Anna-chan. You ought to have more faith in her ability to recover."

"Aggro is right, Anna," Allison said in an assured, boastful tone, "Astrid is an Ace, same as us! The blood of warriors flows through her veins! Mere sickness alone is nowhere near enough to finish her!"

"…" Aggro just looked at his older twin sister for a few seconds before turning back to regard Anna. "…What she said," Aggro remarked to his six-year-old sister.

* * *

After a delicious homecooked meal courtesy of their grandaunt, the Ace siblings proceeded to settle down for the evening. Anna and Argent, the two youngest, had already fallen asleep. Andy, just two years older than Argent, was not all that far behind. The three oldest Ace siblings, however, were more awake.

"Tomorrow is when we begin our work," Allison said to her siblings, "You two are ready to do your respective parts, are you not?"

"Naturally," Amy replied, "Need you even bothered to ask?"

"It's a formality thing, Amy," Allison explained. Turning to regard her younger twin brother, Allison said, "What of you, Aggro? Are you ready to do your part?" Aggro was looking out the window, apparently lost in thought. "…Brother," Allison called out a bit louder, managing to get Aggro's attention. When Aggro turned to face her, the female Ace twin said in a tone of mild concern, "You seem troubled, Aggro. Two gold for your thoughts?"

"What Aunt Sejuani talked about during dinner caught my attention," Aggro explained, "You know, about those Hispanic officers on trial for using excessive force in apprehending some white teenagers and a black teenager who supposedly carried out some sort of crime." Turning to face his sisters, Aggro continued, "During the last class for American History that we had before we came here to help out Aunt Sejuani, our teacher had talked about a rather violent event that happened a few years before any of us were born."

"Oh yeah," Amy remarked, "Our teacher said that he has a first-hand account of that violence since he was in the city where it took place at the time." Giving her older brother a concerned look, the fifteen-year-old Ace girl said, "Why are you thinking about that?"

"Our teacher mentioned how racial tension played a big role in that violence," Aggro explained, "And if what Aunt Sejuani told us during dinner is true, then racial tension is at its peak around this city right now due to the trial that's currently going on."

"Those who would judge others harshly based solely on one's heritage are a dishonorable lot," Allison remarked, her tone clearly conveying disgust at the notion of racism, "I personally do not judge others based on their bloodlines. After all, anyone, regardless of their heritage, has the capability of being a warrior."

Allison's response helped to put Aggro's worried mind at ease. The last part, considering who it came from, also gave the male Ace twin a bit of amusement. Deciding that his sister had a point, Aggro decided to relax a bit, hoping that things would work out for everyone involved.

* * *

The following day, the three oldest Ace siblings went into town to take care of a few tasks for their grandaunt. The three youngest Ace siblings, on the other hand, were staying back to begin assisting their grandaunt with managing the final affairs of their late granduncle.

Aggro was busy taking some old clothes that used to belong to his granduncle to the local thrift store to donate them, Amy was taking care for a bit of shopping, and Allison was visiting people who her grandaunt is friends with, to let them know of her granduncle's passing in case they weren't aware.

As she finished informing the first of her grandaunt's friends, Allison walked past a bodega store on the corner of a street somewhere in the city. Craving a soda, Allison entered the store, hoping that she'd find a bottle her favorite soda in stock. Allison would probably spring for a two-liter bottle, as she was expecting to be doing a lot of walking around to inform the appropriate people, and nothing less would be needed than a two-liter, as she was expecting all of that walking to give her a warrior's thirst.

…

"So yeah, babe," Bobby Santiago said as he manned a counter in his grandfather's store, "Since some serious football games are coming up, I suggested to my grandfather that we move sodas and various snacks closer to the front. He also liked my idea about how to organize the tortilla chips and salsa jars."

"That's great to hear, Boo-Boo Bear," Lori Loud's voice said from Bobby's smartphone, "I knew your grandfather had a bright idea when he let you help out at GAHHHHHH!"

"Babe?" Bobby said in a confused tone, "Are you okay?"

"No! Down, boy! Get off of my bed!" Lori's voice said from the phone, but it was clear that she wasn't directly speaking into the phone. Sounding much more directly spoken into the phone, Lori's voice said, "Sorry, Bobby, but I literally have to go. One of the pets that my siblings and I are pet sitting clearly Fenrir you get back here with that teddy bear, Bobby got it for me!" Lori's end of the conversation suddenly cut off, leaving Bobby alone.

"…Babe?" Bobby said into the phone in a confused tone, before deciding to turn off his phone and slip it back into his pants pocket. A few seconds after that, he saw a girl roughly the same age as him enter the store. The seventeen-year-old Santiago boy could tell full well that this girl was not only ready to throw down at any given time, but that she would readily win. "Hello," Bobby greeted the girl as she entered the store, "Can I help you?"

* * *

Aggro was walking back from the thrift store, having handed over the clothing that his grandaunt asked him to go and donate. With nothing else keeping him in town, the male Ace twin decided that he'd head back to his grandaunt's place to begin assisting with the other affairs that came with his granduncle passing on. As he walked, Aggro heard something that was so loud and so sudden, it made him turn quickly to see what it was.

As such, Aggro saw three men, two white and one black, throw a cinderblock or two through the front window of what looked like a family-owned electronics store. " _That looks like trouble_ ," Aggro thought before quickly turning back to face the direction he was facing so he could hurry home. As he hurried along, wishing to avoid any trouble, he was met up by two Caucasian men. Both men looked to be of a lower-class sort, and both clearly looked riled up by something that Aggro did not wish to get involved, whatever it was.

"Hey kid," the first man said to Aggro, "I don't suppose you saw any fucking Mexicans while you were out, have you?"

Although instantly offended by the first man's clear racism, Aggro kept a neutral expression, as he had a feeling that things were not going to go all that well if he got involved. "I'm afraid not, sir," Aggro replied in a cool tone, "The only person that I interacted with in town is the nice elderly Jewish woman who runs the thrift store."

"Feh," the second man said to the first in a tone of obvious disgust, "Fucking wetbacks must be hiding with their tails between their legs. Serves them right for-"

"Hey, those guys are looting from a store!" the first man said, cutting off his fellow as he pointed out the store that Aggro saw getting attacked earlier, "About damn time we found some action!" The two men then left to go take part in the brazen looting, leaving Aggro alone. Although he did not show it, Aggro was beginning to freak out. Rightly fearing for his own safety, the male Ace twin proceeded to start running for the safety of his grandaunt's home.

* * *

Amy, holding a grocery bag containing baking ingredients in her left hand, was taking a shortcut to return to her grandaunt's home. The fifteen-year-old Ace girl had her staff on hand, and was using it as a walking stick. That was a good thing for Amy, as right when she came out of an alleyway, she was confronted by a single grown white man. "I don't suppose you saw any damn dirty Mexicans run and hide somewhere, did you?" the man asked Amy, hate clear in his tone.

The man's question, as well as the tone he was using, made Amy arch an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Is there something going on that I should be made aware of?" Amy asked, her right hand's grip on her staff tightening just a bit.

"Yeah, some serious shit just went down," the man replied in an angry and hateful tone, "The fucking Mexicans living in this city once again just fucked everyone who isn't them! Those goddamn cops who beat up those innocent kids were let off the hook!"

" _The trial that Aunt Sejuani told us about last night_ ," Amy thought worriedly, her memory sparked by this grown man's hateful rant. Speaking out loud, Amy said, "Surely it isn't as bad as you're making it out to be, sir."

"The judge, the bailiff, everyone on the goddamn jury," the man said, "Hell, even the fucking court clerk were all Mexican! So, you tell me, young lady, whether or not things are not quote unquote 'as bad as I'm making them out to be'." Amy's eyes widened a bit out of surprise; not only were things going south because of the judgment of that trial, but things happened in a way that maximized how bad things were going to be. Aggro's concerns from the previous night were well-founded, it seemed.

Taking a step forward, the man said to Amy, "So I'll ask you again. Did you see any damn dirty Mexicans, yes or no?"

"No, I did not," Amy replied as her tone cooled, "I took a shortcut through some alleyways to avoid as much trouble as possible."

The man's eyes winced in a manner that conveyed suspicion. "You aren't Mexican yourself, are you?" the man asked.

"No, I am not," Amy replied, shaking her head gently in the negative. Due to the tone that Amy was using, the man relaxed a bit, which brought a measure of relief to the fifteen-year-old Ace girl, although it wasn't showing through the cool air that she was giving off.

"Good," the man replied, "I'd have fucking killed you here and now if you were."

Her mood having been soured by the hateful man's declaration, Amy replied simply, "You would have tried."

"…Excuse me?" the man said, ticked off by how this girl in front of him was giving him lip.

"You would have tried," Amy repeated as she gently set the grocery bag she was carrying down on the ground, anticipating that the grown man in front of her would try to attack her. The fifteen-year-old Ace girl was right to suspect that the grown man would make the first move, as he ran at her, his right fist drawn back.

With a spin, Amy kicked the man's legs out from under him, making him fall over onto the ground. As he laid prone, Amy stomped very hard down on the man's hidden treasure, scoring a critical hit. Then, holding her staff as if it were a spear, Amy had one end at the man's throat. With the man covering his injured number, he could not defy the girl who had just beaten him in five seconds flat.

"You…would…have… _tried_ ," Amy said, emphasizing each word. Amy then kicked away the man's hands, gave the man's hidden treasure another stomp for good measure, then turned around, picked up the grocery bag she was carrying, then took her leave. Even though she had emerged victorious from a physical conflict, Amy could not help but be wary; if what the man she had fought said was true, then things were going to, metaphorically speaking, go up in flames really soon and really quick. Wanting to avoid any more trouble, Amy quickly made her way back to her grandaunt's home.

* * *

Aggro could not believe what was going on as he tried to make his way to safety; apparently, while he was out in town, a riot had broken out. In addition to seeing that family-owned electronics store being looted, he saw a deli and a pawn shop receive similar treatment. The male Ace twin also saw innocent people being assaulted by groups of angry rioters.

What really alarmed Aggro was that, in all the cases he saw of innocent people being attacked, the ones who were being attacked were all Hispanic, and their assailants were all either black or white. If what Aggro feared was true, then this riot was sparked by racial tension. It was just like that one riot that his American History teacher was going on about.

As he ran past the entry to an alleyway, Aggro heard a male voice call out, "You damn dirty wetbacks have fucked things up for everyone else in this city, and now we're going to fuck you up in return!"

Turning to face the entry to the alleyway, Aggro saw two men, one white (on his right) and one black (on his left), standing in front of someone who Aggro assumed was of Hispanic heritage. Seeing the man on his right holding a butterfly knife, Aggro's eyes widened in alarm. Oh, how the male Ace twin wish he hadn't seen the sharp bladed weapon. But it was too late.

Aggro rushed into the alleyway.

Aggro, before he and his family came to this city, saw on the city's tourism website how local residents practice kendo in the local park regularly, and Aggro thought that he, who has been practicing Kendo for years, might be able to head over to the park get some practice in while he and his family were in town. In fact, before he was at the local thrift store, Aggro was at the park, but was told by a park maintenance person that Kendo practice wasn't until early evening.

All of this is why Aggro had his bokken on hand as he rushed into the alleyway. Taking it out from the cloth carrying case over his back, Aggro raised his bokken high before swinging it down hard on the shoulder of the man with the butterfly knife, making him cry out in alarm and pain while dropping his weapon. Before the disarmed man's fellow could react, Aggro kicked him hard in the side, making him stumble back.

Acting quickly, Aggro picked up the dropped butterfly knife and, in one fluid motion, got back up and slashed the throat of the man he kicked in the side. Continuing the motion, Aggro stabbed the man who originally had the butterfly knife in the neck. Both men, clearly violent rioters, coughed up rich, warm crimson as the last of their life fled them. After both men fell to the ground and became still, Aggro turned to regard the people that the two men had cornered.

The first was a girl who Aggro estimated to be about his age, due to her height. This girl had long black hair that was mostly styled into a single ponytail, and she wore a blue dress, gold earrings, and brown boots, with the tops of pink socks barely visible. The second was also a girl, albeit younger than her companion. This second girl also had black hair in a ponytail, and she wore a purple hoodie, jean shorts and purple shoes. Like the older girl, this younger girl also wore pink socks, but they were much more visible due to not being obscured by tall boots.

Aggro also noticed two things that were very similar about these girls; both were of Hispanic heritage, and both were clearly frightened, with the younger one hugging the older one for support. Breathing hard in exhaustion, Aggro said to the two girls, "Are you two alright?"

Neither girl responded verbally, although the older one nodded slowly in the affirmative while the younger one, clearly scared for her life, buried her face into her older companion's side and proceeded to start crying. "Good," Aggro replied in a mildly stunned tone, stunned due to what he had just done, "That is…good." Speaking to the two Hispanic girls more directly, Aggro said, "Look, it's clear that everything is going to hell, and that you two are in danger. Please, go find someplace safe to hide until everything simmers down."

At first, the two girls were both frightened out of their minds by what they had just witnessed. The younger of the two girls was still frightened out of her mind, but the older girl knew that Aggro meant them no harm; he _did_ , after all, just killed two men who would have otherwise killed both her and her younger companion. Nodding once in thanks to Aggro, the older girl escorted the younger girl somewhere further within the alleyway.

As he turned around and left the alleyway so he could continue on his way, Aggro prayed that the two girls he just saved would live to see the end of this horrific chaos.

* * *

Allison was not complaining about getting into a fight; in fact, the female Ace twin believed that by fighting foes in glorious battle, she would be appeasing the Allfather. However, she could not help but wonder not only _why_ this duo of foes not only barged into the bodega store, but started wrecking the place. Allison became even more alarmed when, as the clerk and an older man who came out from a back room in the store (the clerk identified this older man as his grandfather) went to tell these two people to leave, the two people immediately started to attack the clerk and the older man, shouting racial slurs at the two Hispanic men.

"Get the hell out of my way, bitch," an African American woman who barely looked older than Allison swore angrily at the female Ace teen, "Those fucking pricks are going down!"

"Have at thee!" Allison declared as she swung Yonfour, her four-iron golf club (of course Allison brought her four-iron with her to her grandaunt's place), at the young dark-skinned woman's face, striking her in the eye and making her cry out in pain. Allison kicked the woman in the stomach, sending her tumbling back. Right as the woman tried to recover, the other store wrecker, a fair-skinned man about the same age as his companion, ran at Allison from the side.

Raising her elbow up, Allison struck the young adult man in the face, then turned her body to face the man more directly. "I shall never tire!" Allison shouted as she swung Yonfour at the young man's head. The head of the golf club struck the man in the forehead, rending a gash that was somewhat diagonal. As the man covered his torn forehead and cried out in pain, Allison kicked him over. As the young man laid prone, Allison walked over and stomped down on the man's throat, crushing his windpipe.

As the young adult man coughed for the last air he would ever breathe, his dark-skinned female companion had recovered just in time for Allison to swing Yonfour at her again. The young adult woman raised her arms to block the blow, but the golf club's head struck the back of her right hand hard enough to crack some of the thin hand bones in her right hand. Crying out in even greater pain, the young adult woman gripped her bad hand with her good hand, which left her unable to keep Allison from kicking her back again, sending her tumbling into a store display.

As the dark-skinned woman passed out (Allison assumed that the woman had been slain), the female Ace twin heard someone from outside the store shout. Turning in the direction of the store's now broken large front window, Allison saw a dark-skinned man holding a large green bottle that looked like it held alcohol at some point. There was a rag sticking out of it, and the rag was on fire. The man threw this item into the store, but Allison caught it and threw it back, smacking the man who originally threw it in the face.

As the dark-skinned man yelp in pain, Allison turned to face the direction of a locked door that led to a back room in the store; according to the older man, this door led to a staircase that can be taken to access the apartment building that the bodega store was a part of. The clerk and the older man both disappeared behind this door, locking it behind them, as Allison kept the people who came into the store to raid the place and severely harm them (the clerk and the older man) busy. Knowing that both of the innocents were safe, Allison could fend off the violent thugs without worry.

Turning back to regard the front of the store, Allison readied herself as she saw another one of the violent thugs enter the store, this one a fair-skinned woman. As her newest foe came into the store, Allison grinned, ready for battle.

* * *

Amy was running for safety. The fifteen-year-old Ace girl had no desire to fight anyone at all ever, and only wanted to make it to the safety of her grandaunt's place. That was Amy's top priority at the moment. Turning the corner to get onto the street where her grandaunt's apartment building was located, Amy picked up the pace, knowing that she was on the final stretch. She was still at least a block away from her goal, so Amy hoped like hell that nothing would pop up to keep her held up for long.

So naturally, as Amy ducked in and out around parked vehicles to avoid being seen, she saw a group of men, four in total and all in their late twenties from the looks of it, beating up who Amy guessed were two people who were cowering on the ground. Having no desire to get involved in that mess, Amy hid behind the large, bulky family van that she ducked behind, praying that the four men would eventually leave.

The fifteen-year-old Ace girl's prayers were answered, as the four men took their leave when one of them noticed someone else on the far end of the sidewalk, and decided to go after the poor person. Seeing the group of men chase after their latest target, Amy hoped that the significant head start that the fleeing person had would be enough of a safety net to ensure that they would be able to get away. After the current level of danger simmered down somewhat, Amy peeked out from where she was hiding, and saw two people lying on the ground.

The first person was a woman; fairly tall, this woman had long black hair, wore earrings and a pair of yellow bracelets, a pink dress that had a greenish-blue accent at the top, and brown shoes. The second was a man; he had fairly short black hair, he wore black-framed glasses, a somewhat dark cream-colored long-sleeved shirt under a green sweater vest, a pair of brown pants and shoes of matching color. Due to the distance she was at and the angle at which she was looking at the two people who laid on the ground, Amy couldn't see anything else.

But Amy could see two notable things about these two people; both were clearly of Hispanic heritage, and both were laying with such stillness that it gave the fifteen-year-old Ace girl a rather unsettling chill that seeped deep to the very core of her being. Shaking her head in a way that conveyed that she was trying to bring herself together, Amy regathered her bearings and continued on her way to her grandaunt's home.

* * *

Four days. The violence of the city-wide riot lasted four days up until local law enforcement, assisted by a military force when the violence proved far too great for the local law enforcement to handle on their own, managed to finally quell the last of the violence. In those four days, over two and a half billion dollars' worth of damage had been caused to businesses and various other buildings, thirty-five hundred people were injured (a lot of those injuries being severe), close to eighteen-thousand arrests were made, and five-hundred and eighty-seven people were killed.

Of those who were killed in the riot, three-hundred were innocent civilians of Hispanic heritage, one-hundred and fifty were police officers and various emergency workers such as firefighters and paramedics, forty-nine were members of the military, eighty-seven were rioters, and one was a rather unlucky tourist from France who was visiting the United States for the first time in his entire life. It was safe to say that the riot went down as one of the single most violent events in national history.

After the Ace family returned to Royal Woods, the three oldest Ace siblings were over at the residence of their friends, the Loud siblings. While they were gone, the Aces had left their pets in the care of the Louds, and were there to pick up their beloved animal companions. The Louds could tell that, when they arrived to pick up their pets, that Allison, Aggro and Amy looked like they had seen some serious trouble, so they invited their friends in to try and help them, letting them take all the time they needed.

What the Loud siblings heard from their friends was, to say the very least, shocking. "Those men would have otherwise killed innocent people for the crime of belonging to the wrong ethnic group," Aggro said as he finished the tale he was telling, "Although I am haunted by the fact that I took multiple lives between leaving the local thrift store and arriving at my grandaunt's place, I stand by what I did."

"…Huh, you say that your experience haunts you, brother?" Allison remarked, honest surprise barely discernable out of her tone of subdued shock. With a gentle shake of her head, Allison continued in the same tone, "I can't honestly blame you for that."

"All of that…" Lincoln began, shock clear on his face, "…Did all of that really…how is all of that even possible…?"

"This is too much to take in," Lynn remarked, unable to fully comprehend what she and her various siblings had just been told. Shaking her head gently, Lynn continued, "I can't even imagine trying to get out of all of that-"

"Wait a minute!" Lori exclaimed suddenly, cutting her athletic younger sibling off in the process. Taking her smartphone out, Lori said, "I literally have to call Bobby to see if he and his family are okay!" After dialing up the appropriate number, Lori held the phone up to the side of her head, praying that her Boo-Boo Bear would pick up on the other end. After seconds of waiting that seemed much longer than that to the oldest Loud sibling, the other end picked up, and Lori heard the voice of her beloved Bobby, bringing a great measure of relief to Lori. "Boo-Boo Bear!" Lori exclaimed in a worried tone upon hearing Bobby speak, "Are you okay?!"

The other Loud siblings, as well as the three oldest Ace siblings, watched as Lori listened to Bobby speak on the other end of the line. Lori's expression grew more and more troubled as she continued to listen to the other end. Near the end of the conversation, Lori said, "Boo-Boo Bear, I am so sorry to hear what happened to your family's store. I'm also…" Lori stopped short, as she choked up a bit, then continued, "…I'm also sorry to hear about your loss as well. Thank goodness that nothing else happened to the rest of your family." Hearing that last part caught the attention, and concern, of Lori's siblings and the present Ace siblings.

"Please, call me if you need anything, even if it's just for me to listen to you," Lori said, "I'm here for you. …Yeah, I'm certain that Lincoln would literally be there for Ronnie Anne if she needs a shoulder to cry on. Okay, I love you too. Take care." Lori ended the call, and turned to face the others, with her siblings all having expecting looks on their faces.

Knowing that she had some news to deliver to her family, Lori took a breath to steady herself before she broke the tragic happenings to her family. "Bobby's grandfather's store was severely damaged by rioters and looters," Lori began, drawing shocked looks from her younger siblings, "Furthermore, Bobby's…" Lori had to take another breath to steady her nerves, but continued, "…Bobby's aunt and uncle were both killed in the riot."

"What?!" the other Loud siblings all exclaimed in unison. Lori nodded somberly in the affirmative, confirming what she had just told them.

"Thankfully, the rest of Bobby's family, as well as Bobby himself, are all okay," Lori continued, "Granted, Bobby and his family are still shaken by what happened during the riot, and they're still grieving for the loss that they suffered, but they're okay, if only by virtue of the fact that they are literally all alive and uninjured."

"Tis shameful that your champion had suffered so much, Lori," Allison began saying to Lori as she stood up from where she sat, getting everyone's attention in the process. "But if he and his clan share that close of a friendship with you and yours," Allison went on, "Then me and mine will do what we can to help. Provided that our help is wanted, that is."

Aggro and Amy both turned to regard the oldest of their number, but the smiles on their respective faces showed that they both agreed wholeheartedly with what Allison way saying. Walking up to Lori, Allison said, "I am serious. If you need our help with helping that Bobby fellow and his clan, we'll give it gladly."

"That's…" Lori said, trailing off as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Wiping a stray tear away, Lori said, "That's literally one of the greatest things that anyone has ever done for me. I don't know what to say."

"At least take this," Amy said as she got up and walked over to Lori to hand her something. Lori's expression changed to one of mild confusion when Amy handed her a set amount of money. "Allison, Aggro and I still have to pay you and your family for watching our pets for us, remember?" Amy pointed out, "Allison, Aggro and I agreed to bump up the money we're giving you since you ended up having to watch our pets for longer than anticipated." Lori's reaction to being paid was not what her siblings, Amy, Allison and Aggro expected.

She laughed.

"This is literally the last thing I was thinking about right now," Lori remarked as she pocketed the money, "But thank you anyway. And like Leni said, your pets were absolute angels." After the Aces collected their pets and returned to their home, the Loud siblings were alone in the living room of their house.

"Well, everyone," Luna said to her siblings as a whole, "You all wanna watch TV?"

"I could literally use anything right now to take my mind off of things," Lori remarked, "So go ahead. I think _Dream Boat_ is on right now." The siblings all turned to face the TV and, with Luna in control of the remote, began to watch one of their favorite shows.

* * *

That evening, Lincoln was up in his bedroom, wearing a baggy orange t-shirt and a pair of orange sweatpants. He had just finished turning off his computer when he turned to face the viewers. "I just finished a video chat that I had with Ronnie Anne," Lincoln said as he spoke to the viewers, "All things considered, I think that she's having a rougher time right now than I did back when my leg was severely damaged in the attack on my school." Lincoln got off of the stool that he sat on, walked over to his bed, and sat down on it.

"But, just like me," Lincoln continued, "Ronnie Anne's got a loving family who's there for her. Not to mention no shortage of friends who would gladly give a hand if asked. Ronnie Anne's pretty lucky." Laying out on his bed, Lincoln said, "Well anywho, I ought to get some sleep. See you later, and take care." Lincoln closed his eyes, and he quickly went to sleep.

THE END

Author's notes:

And…there, it's finished. This story had a somewhat shaky start, but I'd like to think that this story was able to get through with minimal issues. Now that I finished this story, I can put some attention on some other writings of mine, including expanding upon the collection of Loud House one shots, since they and this story share the same continuity. Since they do share that continuity, I'll have to keep in mind the events of this story when I work on the eleventh one shot for the collection.

…I also have one or two other Loud House stories in mind. ...Which will, for the time being, have to wait.


End file.
